I'm Going to Fix This
by Sydney3
Summary: Martin Crane has kept his thoughts to himself long enough about the love Niles has for Daphne.  After her impromptu road trip to Portland, he seizes his opportunity to fulfill his promise to Niles, "I'd give anything to fix this for you." Complete
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: It's been 9 years since I've written and posted a Fan Fiction. I'm so grateful to Hallmark and WeTV for airing reruns of Frasier! Watching these episodes again has inspired me to put my fingertips to work and start writing again. I can't believe how many ideas have popped into my head. My first story goes back to a line from "Visions of Daphne" where Martin said "I'd give anything to fix this for you." Written from Martin's POV, he takes his chance in this story and says "I'm Going to Fix This". The story picks up the evening of Daphne's infamous road trip to Portland for a box of cereal. I had intended this to be a one shot but alas…it is much longer _

_I appreciate any and all feedback. Frasier and its characters are property of Paramount Television and Grub Street Productions. _

"**I'm Going to Fix This"**

**By Sydney Long**

This past year has been one for the books to say the least. I watched my youngest son finally rid himself of that tyrant of a wife. He was, at last, free and clear to tell the woman of his dreams that he was in love with her. I also watched my older son step in time and time again to keep that from happening. I could kill him for doing that. Niles has had to live in Frasier's shadow his whole life. I just don't understand why he can't have this one thing.

Frasier says that Niles is just extremely attracted to Daphne. I think deep down he knows that these two are destined to be together and Frasier is so jealous of the thought of Niles being happy that he'll do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening. He has stepped in so many times, I've lost count. I've watched him ask Daphne do something just to get her out of the room when Niles is there. Just because Frasier has failed at love, doesn't mean that he has to drag his brother down with him.

I know better though. They think that just because I'm sitting in front of the TV, I'm not really paying attention. I know exactly what's going on. I've been watching things very closely since that day when I sat beside Niles and watched Daphne say yes to another man. I wasn't kidding when I said that I would give anything to fix things for him. I'm watching and waiting for the right moment because I _**AM**_ going to fix this for him...for both of them.

I knew the moment Niles met Daphne that there was something special there. They formed a close friendship almost instantly and for the last 7 years, I've been watching them fall in love right from the comfort of my recliner. I see it in the way they look at each other, how they manage to sit just a little closer to each, and how much they want to just reach out and touch one another but are just too scared to do it. When Niles confided in me several years ago that he was starting to have feelings for Daphne, I wasn't the least bit surprised. I just wondered if and when she would notice.

It was pretty obvious to me but I knew what I was looking for in my son's behavior. He was relaxed and nervous at the same time. He looked deep in to her eyes. He looked in to her heart and soul. I know it sounds silly, but this is just how Niles works. He's very passionate and I've never seen him more passionate about something than he is about Daphne. He had baggage to let go of though. He would never even entertain the idea of putting Daphne through anything that had the potential to hurt her. That is why he waiting so long to tell her. He has more respect for her than he does me, I think.

Niles was married and while he was falling in love with Daphne, he was also trying to salvage his marriage. Not one to give up, he thought it was the right thing to do. Shortly after Donny came into the picture, he told me "I've made the biggest mistake of my life." When I asked what he meant by that, he told me that he shouldn't have held on to something that really meant nothing. He should have reached for something that did. He should have reached for Daphne.

After sitting here in this chair for 7 years, I agree with him. Part of me also holds Daphne responsible too. I see right through her act of pretending not to notice the little things that Niles says or does for her. I think the boyfriends she brought in and out of the apartment were just place holders. I also think that part of her wanted to see Niles' reaction to it. Then there is the whole class, employer thing. Which if you ask me is a load of crap. Love is love and these two are in love, I don't care what anyone says.

Things really got crazy around Christmas. That's when I think Daphne found out the truth. Well, I mean that's when I think she actually heard someone say it out loud. I've never seen more confusion come from someone's eyes. One minute they were so excited at the thought of getting married. Then faster than I could pop open a Ballentine, they went dark. I'm pretty sure that's when she realized she was planning a wedding and the groom wasn't Niles.

I don't know what she sees in Donny other than a last chance. They don't even look good together if you ask me. They have absolutely nothing in common and I can tell that Daph's just miserable. Just like Niles though, she isn't one to give up. That's why I think she's having such a hard time with this. She said yes to Donny and now she feels like she owes it to him to go through with the wedding. If you ask me, she's doing the same thing Niles did with Maris, holding on to the wrong thing.

When I think of Niles and Daphne together, it seems like such a natural, happy thing. They complement each other very well. They look amazing together and they seem to grow as people at the same rate. In my head I can even picture them having children, something I know they both want. They enjoy a lot of the same things, even if Daphne doesn't think so. I have to tell her that the real Niles doesn't march to Frasier's drum. The real Niles is her other half. I just have to let her know before it's too late.

The problem is, I still haven't found the right moment to step in and fix this. Or maybe I kept my mouth shut for too long and I have let too many opportunities pass by. I don't know but then something happened today and I can't ignore. I think my moment just presented itself. Daphne took off and drove to Portland today. After some strange conversation about their eyes, she just took off. That's when it hit me. I knew that tonight was the night; I'm going to fix this.

I've known for some time that Daphne hasn't been sleeping well. I've gotten up in the middle of the night on more than one occasion only to find her on the balcony with a glass of wine. She just sits there looking up at the stars. Even when Donny stays the night, she'll be out there. What she doesn't know is that right across town; someone else is doing the exact same thing.

Keeping my mouth shut just isn't an option any more. I'll start with Daphne first. She's the one that took that damn road trip today. I had to talk to her and I had no doubt that she was out on the balcony tonight. I can't imagine her sleeping a wink after what happened today. And that is exactly where I found her.


	2. The Balcony

At first I wasn't sure how I should approach her. She was so lost in her thoughts that I definitely didn't want to scare her by just storming out there like Frasier would do. Just looking at her breaks my heart. It's the same look I have seen on Niles face for the last 6 years. It's the look of knowing exactly what you want but not knowing how to get there.

I saw that she had popped open a bottle of Frasier's wine. I'm sure he'll have something to say about it once he realizes it's gone. But if Daphne needs a glass or two to settle herself then I say pop the cork. Seeing this as my opportunity, I grabbed myself a glass and tapped lightly on the door.

"Can I join you," I asked quietly.

A slight nod was all I got in response. She didn't even have to look at me for me to see she's been crying. Her eyes were glassy and the box of tissues next to her said it all. I wanted to wrap her in a big hug and let her know that everything would want to be okay, but I thought better of that. I'm going to let Niles do that. She needs it to be him.

Sitting down next to her and pouring myself some wine was the easy part. What to say was the hard part. How do you start a conversation like this? I can't just come right out and ask her if she is in love with Niles. Well I guess I could, but that won't help things. That won't lift the weight she has on her shoulders. She needs to talk about it, from the beginning. Oh my god, I'm starting to sound like my sons. Thinking about talking about it, isn't going to get me anywhere. Just do it Martin. Taking another swig of wine and a deep breath, I break the ice.

"Portland, huh," I said simply.

"Portland," she responded. She still hasn't taken her eyes off of the stars. It's like she's searching for the answer within them. I'm pretty sure that Niles is across town at his office doing the same thing.

"Did you find what you were looking for," I asked.

"I found your cereal, didn't I," she muttered.

"But you didn't go looking for cereal," I said, "did you?"

I looked over at her again when she didn't respond. She wasn't looking at the stars anymore, but she still wouldn't look at me. Now I know she's fighting back the tears. It's like she wants to keep her feelings bottled up. Not tonight though. Tonight, I'm going to get the truth out of her. I was a detective you know.

"How long have you known," I asked taking a completely different approach and breaking the silence.

"Since just before Christmas."

"Frasier told you, didn't he," I asked.

"He didn't mean too," she said wiping a tear away with the back of her hand. "He was on those bloody pills for his back."

"Were you shocked?"

"At first," she said "but the more I thought about it, I wasn't."

"Daph, what do you think of Niles," I asked, "Even when you didn't know what you know now?"

"That's just it," she said, "I think I've always known."

"What," I said startled by what I think I just heard. I mean that's what I wanted to hear. So why did it shock me? I guess because it didn't take as long I thought it would for her to say it. "Did you just..."

"Oh you heard me old man," she said looking down into her glass of wine. She swirled what was left in the glass in a way that mirrors Niles. That is a sign that maybe she has been paying attention all these years. She's picked up a few little habits here and there that are so similar to Niles, another sign that there is something more to their relationship.

"Since that night," she volunteered, "the night I found out the truth, well actually heard it said out loud, I've been replaying everything in my head. Everything...from the moment we met, from the moment he first shook my hand."

"And," I said gently, trying to encourage her to let it all out.

"I felt something then," she said in barely a whisper.

"You did," I asked. I'm sure my eyes were about to pop out of my head.

"When our hands touched for the first time…it took everything I had to keep my composure."

"And you never said anything," I asked.

"How could I," she cried, "he was married and we had just met. It was totally out of line for me to have just jumped on him and to be honest, that's what I wanted to do. I've never felt a more intense attraction in my life."

"Well why the hell didn't you," I joked.

"He was married," she cried, "I would never do anything like that to a married man."

"If you felt that way," I asked gently, "then why didn't you say something when the time came?"

"Oh I don't know," she said swallowing the last drop of wine in her glass. She hesitantly reached for the bottle to pour somewhere, and then she set the bottle and the glass down. "I was scared."

"Of what," I questioned.

"Of so many things," she said pulling out a sweater that was tucked beside her. I didn't see it sitting there when I came out onto the balcony, "This is his you know. He left it here a while back after playing squash with Dr. Crane. He asked me once if I had seen it but I lied. I took it the second I saw it."

"So you're the sweater thief," I teased. Niles has been grumbling about that sweater for ages.

"I suppose I am," she said with tears welling up in her eyes, "it's all I have since he doesn't come around as much."

"What are you scared of Daphne?" I asked trying to get back on topic.

She sat there quietly. She opened her mouth to speak a couple of times but couldn't. I pretty much knew that she didn't want to disappoint him. It wasn't my place to tell her otherwise though.

"I'm scared of disappointing him. I'm scared of living life without him," she said finally and so softly if I wasn't looking at her, I probably wouldn't have heard a word.

"He has those same fears," I said, "the exact same fears. But…I can tell you this; he will never ask you to be anything but who you are. I know that you feel the same."

She nodded and looked away again. I think I'm reaching through to her. I still see confusion in her eyes but also a slight sparkle.

"Do you know that your eyes sparkle when you think and talk about him," I said softly.

A faint smile formed. I saw it. It happened. She didn't say anything though. And we sat in silence for what seemed like forever.

"He loves you," I said breaking the silence. Maybe actually hearing the words from me will…oh I don't know what it will do. I just had to say them.

"I know and look at the mess I've gotten us into," she said, "You know I went to his office just before Donny proposed. I think I went there hoping that he would...that he would..."

I could hear the sobs welling up in her throat at the memory.

"He tried," I said softly, "he came over that night with a red bowtie on. He wanted to tell you so badly, for so long, but he had so many things coming at him from so many different directions. He just wanted you to be happy."

"I just wish he told me that he wanted to be the one to make me happy," she whispered.

"Daphne," I said, "I've been sitting in that chair for nearly seven years watching the two of you. Yes I've known how Niles felt this whole time. I've watched you fall in love with him too. You are so happy when he's around."

"Donny makes me happy too," she said. Damn, why did she have to have to go there? She's stalling.

"But it's different Daphne," I said, "the love Donny has for you is the same love that Frasier has spent years trying to convince Niles that he has for you."

"What do you mean," she asked looking at me for the first time since I joined her on the balcony.

"It's comfortable and safe. It's not raw and passionate," I said, "it isn't honest. The love that Niles has for you is all of those things and so much more. Without even trying, you've been able to bring out the best in Niles. The true Niles is not always wearing a three piece suit. The true Niles didn't exist until you came along. He brings out a side in you that is very much the same. I haven't seen that Daphne since Donny came along."

She nodded a fidgeting with the sweater. Again with the silence. I have had enough of the silence. At the same time though I don't want to push things too far and have her take off on me. I poured us a bit more wine and once again watched her swirl it in the glass.

"Daphne," I said leaning back in my chair. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"Do you think about Niles," I asked simply.

"Yes," she said.

"How often?"

"All the time," she whispered.

"How about when you're with Donny," I said.

"I spend most of the time trying to picture Niles in his place," she said, "even when we're making…having sex."

She stopped herself from using the term "making love" and I know why. You can't really, truly use those words when you don't really, truly love the person you are sharing the moment with. Yes this was too much information for me and I'm going to have to drink a lot of beers to get the image out of my head but I'm guilty of picturing Niles with her instead of Donny. I just make sure I leave my thoughts to the living room.

"How do those visions," I started, using her words, "make you feel?"

"Like you said," she answered, "it's different. I feel things I've never felt before."

Okay now, we're getting close, very close. Just a few more minutes and I think I can get her off this balcony and into Niles arms.

"Daph, I watched you look into Niles eyes today," I said, "You saw it and it scared you to death. I think that's why you drove to Portland."

"It," she questioned.

"Everything fell into place when you looked into his eyes today," I said, "didn't it?"

She nodded and clutched his sweater a little tighter. She never let it go once she showed it to me.

"Okay," I said, "I have just one more question for you then. Do you feel the same way about him? Are you in love with Niles?"

"That's two questions," she joked. It wasn't the kind of joking that made me think she was avoiding the question. It was the kind of joking that made me think she was just trying to compose herself before answering.

"Daphne, do you love him?" I asked again.

"Yes."


	3. The Car Drive

As soon as she said yes, I knew the time had come to take her to Niles. I knew just where he'd be, he's hardly at the Montana anymore. No one knows that but me. It's been really easy keeping that from Frasier, not just because I promised Niles I wouldn't tell him, but because I refused to give in to Frasier's clumsy attempts at interfering. He just needs to leave well enough alone. We're at the point now that if Frasier were to step in, he'd get a nice whack from my cane. But I shouldn't be thinking about Frasier now. I've got to get Daphne to Niles, now!

"Let's go for a drive." I said standing up.

"With all due respect Mr. Crane," she said, "I've already been for a drive today. I'm not up for another one."

"This one will be short," I said the wine glass out of her hand and sitting it next to mine. "There is something that I want you to see. Bring that sweater with you."

"Mr. Crane," she said.

"Please," I pleaded, "I promise you won't regret it. If anything it will give you a whole new perspective and it might tell you why that ring of yours has no sparkle."

"Bloody hell old man," she said looking at her watch, "it's two in the morning."

"That doesn't matter," I said taking her hand and pulling her out of the chair, "come on."

Reluctantly she followed me out the door, clutching the sweater as close to her as she could and into the elevator. She wanted to change from her pajamas but I didn't dare let her out of my sight. "It's going to be ok," I promised. "You look fine."

When we got to the garage I opened the door for her, something I knew Niles would always do, something Donny never did. Under her breath I heard her mutter "you taught him how to be a gentleman." I smiled at that as I walked around to the drivers' side.

"Where are we going," she asked.

"You'll see," I said.

"Where are we going," she asked again in a tone that told me if I didn't give her an answer, there would be hell to pay.

"I'm taking you to Niles," I said simply, "his office."

"But I don't...," she started to say and then she pick up on the direction I was going in. "This isn't the way to his office."

"Daphne, he has another office," I said.

"What," she said, "I don't understand."

Taking a deep breath, I began to tell her some things that Niles has told me in confidence. "About 3 years ago or however long it was that you too went to that ball thingie together, Niles made a lot of changes. One of them being the focus of his practice."

"He's not seeing patients anymore," she asked.

"Oh he's seeing patients," I answered pulling up in front of a dark building with just a few lights on. "He primarily sees children now."

"Children," she whispered, confusion written all over her face.

"And families," I said.

"I don't understand," she said looking out the window.

"I don't think he does either," I said, "he tried to explain to me why he wanted to make a change like this. The only thing I got out of the conversation was you. He must have said your name a dozen times when he told me what he wanted to do. Evidently, you are his inspiration."

"Oh my," she said choking back a sob.

"I also know that he hardly sleeps anymore," I said, "When he isn't with Frasier, he's here."

"Doing what," she asked following my finger to a small gated patio. On that patio stood Niles, just looking up at the sky. I watched her eyes light up at the sight of him. A wave of pure love just washed over her and that's when I knew I had done the right thing. Oh I'm sure there will be hell to pay once Frasier finds out but who the hell cares. He's caused enough trouble and frankly, I'm glad I can do something nice for my son.

"I don't really know," I said, "he does a lot of staring at the stars, like you. I think he sleeps here sometimes too. I stop by every once in a while just to say hi, occasionally take him to lunch, you know, when I can get away from Frasier."

"Is this an apartment building," she asked fiddling with the sweater.

"No, it's got several small businesses, a few medical practices and what not," I explained, "He wanted this one because of the patio. He comes out here with the kids and they draw. Art therapy I think he called it. It's a nice office really."

"And he's been doing this for how long," she asked.

"Awhile," I said, leaving it at that. "Frasier doesn't know about this. Niles doesn't want him too, so if you could just keep this under wraps, that would be great."

"What," she said staring at Niles and the snapping her attention back to me, "oh, of course."

"He's wanted to tell you," I said sadly. "For a long time."

"Why hasn't he," she asked looking back up at him.

"Because of Donny," I answered. "He was afraid that you would tell him. He just doesn't want Donny knowing any more than he has to. He thinks Donny already knows too much. Don't misunderstand, Daph, Niles is extremely grateful because Donny gave him the freedom that he's wanted for so long. But…Donny also took away something that meant the world to Niles…you."

"I wouldn't have, if he asked me not to," she said. "We don't talk about him. I've made it a point not too. Well Donny tries but I change the subject. I can only imagine how I would sound if I started talking to Donny about….Niles, especially now."

There! She said his name. Finally, I've been waiting to hear her say all night. She said his name. She thinks of him as Niles and not Dr. Crane. Oh my god, am I good or what?

"You know," she said looking down at her engagement ring. "I don't want the stars."

"What do you want," I asked.

"I want to wear this sweater," she said running her thumb across the collar.

"Excuse me," I said. Just when I thought we were getting somewhere, she talks about clothes.

"It's not just a sweater, Mr. Crane," she said, "I mean it is but it isn't. It doesn't just belong to Niles. It is Niles. I…um…I tried it on and well, it fits and its comfortable. I like the way I feel when I'm wearing it. In a crazy way, when I wear this, it's like he has his arms around me and I feel safe. I'm not doing a good job of explaining this, am I?"

"I get it," I said patting her hand and touching her ring, "so what do you think about this?"

"It's just a ring," she said quietly, "at this point that's all it is for me. It doesn't mean much other than a reminder of the mess I've gotten us into. I should have just followed my visions like I always do and to hell with the fear of commitment thing because that isn't it."

"It doesn't sparkle much," I said. Truth be told, I never really liked that ring. It was lovely but it isn't my son's. That alone made it really hard to like.

"It never really has to anyone except Donny," she answered slipping off the ring and setting it down beside her. "I never thought I would be able to just remove an engagement ring like I can with this. Taking it off is so easy. I always thought that my engagement ring would be a permanent fixture on my finger."

She looked back up at Niles as he gazed toward the sky. I wonder what he is thinking about. Oh who am I kidding, I know what he's thinking about and it isn't a what, it's a who and she's sitting right next to me. He was wearing his glasses, I'm not sure if Daphne knows he has them or not. I'm not sure if he knows that Daph has them too. Knowing these two, they are probably the same damn prescription.

Niles took a sip of what I'm assuming and pray is coffee and made his way back towards the door. He took one more longing glance to the sky and then we both watched Niles step back inside his office.

"Wait…where is he going?"

She asked with such urgency in her voice as if she were losing him.

"Come on. Let's go find out," I said getting out of the car and walking around to her side to open the door.

"Wait, Mr. Crane," she said putting her hand on my arm, "this is happening so fast, I don't know that I can…I need to talk to Donny first."

Okay, we're taking a baby step backward here. The goal is to get her inside the office Martin, I said to myself. Don't let her run; you are so close to fixing this.

"Seven years Daph," I said patting her hand, "that doesn't seem so fast to me. You can deal with Donny later. Let's fix this with Niles first."

"But," she said not budging from the side of the car.

"Come on Daph," I said taking her hand, with the other she held on to that sweater for dear life, "let's fix this so you both can be happy and you can have the real thing with his arms around you instead of that damn sweater."

She slowly followed me to the door of the office building. Niles had given me the code to get for emergencies. I have been to the office several times, although never this late at night. The security guard is an old buddy of mine so I knew that it wouldn't be any trouble to get up to his office.

"Hiya Marty," the guard said, "come to try to talk some sense into your son?"

"How long's he been here," I asked.

"He got here at well I guess it was seven yesterday morning now, left for about an hour or so at lunch time, came back and hasn't left since. He has had a couple of food deliveries but that's about it. Joe the morning guard tells me that he had a bunch of patients today but he isn't doing so well himself. He was really upset when he got back from wherever he went," the guard said and then he noticed Daphne, "you must be Daphne?"

"How did you know…," she started it say. The fact that the guard knew who she was startled her.

"Dr. Crane speaks very highly of you," the guard said, "I've been wondering if we'd ever get to see you."

"I think you're going to be seeing a lot more of her," I said guiding Daphne to the elevators.

"He knows about me," she asked as we stepped on the elevator.

"Yeah," I said.

"How," she asked.

"Does it matter," I said watching the number climb to our floor.

"I guess not," she said as the doors opened, "Mr. Crane, what did that guard mean when he said that Niles isn't doing well?"

"Daph, he really isn't," I said, "he's completely heartbroken and the more and more he hears about the wedding details, the worse he gets. I wasn't going to tell you that part. I figured…well I was hoping you would have figured that out on your own. It's why he is hardly around anymore."

"Oh my god," she said slumping in a chair just outside the elevator, "how could I have been so blind?"

"Daphne, this part isn't your fault at all," I said, "If you haven't seen him lately, how were you supposed to know? He's been hiding here and if you didn't know about this place, you couldn't do anything about it."

"I've been too busy dealing with my own feelings that I didn't even think about….," she started to say but she stopped herself. "I've really made a mess of things."

"Come on then," I said. I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the chair, "let's go fix this."

We approached Niles office and I knew that her face would light up as soon as she saw it. It's so kid friendly, I honestly didn't know that Niles had it in him. On top of the murals he had painted on the walls, were drawings that kids had done for him. There were books, crayons and stuffed animals everywhere. At the same it had a touch of elegance that is Niles in it. It's a very inviting place, no wonder it's so successful.

"Oh my," she said when she entered his waiting room.

"Okay," I said quietly, "you just sit out here and I'm going to go talk to him."

"Mr. Crane," she said, "please don't leave when…when."

I gave her a small hug. I knew exactly what she was asking. She didn't want me to leave when she finally did see Niles. She wanted me there just in case. I knew there would be no "just in case", but I said it anyway.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise."


	4. My Chat with Niles

Once I got Daphne settled in the chair outside of his office door, I turned my attention on to my son. Niles and I haven't always gotten along over the years but thanks to Daphne, we've gotten a lot closer. I think I'm actually a lot closer to Niles than to Frasier and I've lived with him for the last seven years.

Sitting next to Niles as he watched Daphne say yes to Donny, still breaks my heart. I could almost feel him start to crumble and knew instantly all he wanted to do was run. He was trapped though between Frasier and me and that's what kept him there. We had a long talk that night, which to this day no one knows about. "I've really messed things up. I should have said something." He says that almost every day and he means it.

There is a part of me that is terrified that Niles will just one day disappear. I'm scared he'd move away to escape his greatest failure and we would never see him. That's why tonight is so important. I don't want to lose my son, not just for my sake but for Daphne's. She'd be completely lost without him. I want them both to be happy and they will only truly be happy if they are together.

I tapped lightly on the door, much like I did when I approached Daphne, so I wouldn't scare him. I mean it is 2:30 in the morning and I'm betting a 6 pack of Ballentines that he doesn't get many visitors this late at night.

"Hi son," I said quietly. He looked awful, much worse than when I saw him earlier in the day when he stopped by briefly. Gone was the suit he had worn over to the apartment. It was hanging up behind his desk. He was in his comfortable clothes, meaning jeans and a sweater. This is the side that Daphne has brought out in him and can't wait for her to see it. I bet you anything that will be the first thing she says.

"Dad," he said. I interrupted a deep thought but he didn't seem to be surprised that I was there. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on ya," I answered. Behind his glasses, his eyes looked red and tired, "I was worried."

"Well," he said taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes, "How do I look?"

He asked without an attitude. He genuinely wanted to know and wanted an honest answer.

"Ya look like hell," I said. Niles appreciates the truth unlike his brother who is extremely defensive. He nodded in agreement.

"I thought so because I feel like hell," he said simply. "I'm really struggling here, Dad. I've tried everything I know to put Daphne behind me. You know that she's the reason…"

"I know son," I said sadly.

"I've tried Dad. Drowning myself in work, staying away from Frasier's and Nervosa," he said, "I've even taken a class at the University, just for fun. I just can't do it. No matter what she does with her life, she's always…always going to be in here."

He pointed to his heart. His heart has Daphne written all over it. I knew it then, I know it now. It's never going to change. Same goes for Daphne.

"I know son," I said. I finally got close enough to his desk to see all of the paperwork scattered across it. It was real estate information. Oh my god, he's moving. "Niles, what is all this?"

"Oh," he said shuffling the papers, "Um, you know that house on Mercer Island that I liked so much?"

"Yeah," I said. I sighed a breath of relief, Mercer Island isn't that far and it is a great house really, right on the water with a dock. The whole backside of the house is nothing but windows. It's gorgeous. He has said for years that if the house ever came on the market he would look into buying it.

"Well, I got a call from my realtor not too long ago that it had gone on the market," he said, "And well, I bought it. I always thought it would be a perfect place for Daphne and me to…"

He stopped himself from finishing the sentence. He didn't have to say it anyway, I knew what he meant. What he didn't know is that he is going to get the chance.

"You bought a house," I asked. I'm not ready to mention the fact that Daphne is sitting in the waiting room but I wish I could see the expression on her face.

"Yeah. That's why I was in the suit when I stopped by Frasier's place. I closed on it today," he said holding up the keys, "I know it's crazy, that house is huge but I just feel like I'm meant to live there. Maybe I will get a dog to keep me company."

"At least you're not moving out of the state or anything," I said.

"I honestly thought about it, Dad," he said leaning back in his chair, "it's just too hard to sit here anymore feeling the way that I feel."

"What made you change your mind," I said. I knew the answer to the question before I asked it. He would entertain the idea of moving somewhere else but he would never be able to bring himself to be that far away from Daphne. Despite everything, he wanted to be close just in case she needed him. He wanted to be there for her, always.

"Daphne," he said simply, "Dad, I love her so much it's making me crazy."

"What would you say to her now if you had the chance," I said.

"I'd tell her that I love her and that I want to spend the rest of our lives together," he said, "and that I'm sorry for not saying anything and making such a huge mess of things."

He then opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small black jewelry box.

"And then there's this," he said opening the box. A gorgeous diamond sparkled inside. It screamed Daphne.

"Son, that's an engagement ring," I said. I had no idea that he had it. He has shared so many things with me about his feelings for Daphne over the years. I knew that he wanted to marry her but had no idea that he had bought a ring. I heard Daphne sob quietly from the waiting room. I can only imagine what she must be thinking now. I just hope she stays put for a little while longer.

"It is," he said removing the ring from the box and holding in his hand.

"When did you get that," I asked.

"When Roz had Alice," he said, "I went to the jewelry store to get Roz a necklace as a gift. I wanted to do something nice for her because she was undertaking this whole parent thing by herself and I thought that was incredibly brave. I walked past the rings and there it was. It just screamed Daphne and I bought it on the spot. Even if she'll never wear it, I don't want anyone else to. This is her ring."

"Son, they make identical rings all the…," I started to say.

"This is one of a kind," he answered shaking his head. "This is the only one like it anywhere."

"Wow," I said sitting down, "you've got the house, the ring….all that is missing is…"

"The girl," he said sadly, "and that's my fault. I was never man enough to say anything. I can't imagine what she would think of me if she knew just how I felt."

His red eyes looked at me almost begging me to hold true to my statement of "I'd give anything to fix this for you." I'm going to son, just you wait.

"You know Dad, it's because of Daphne that I have all of this," he said waving his arms around the room, "she gave me the strength to take a chance that I've always been so afraid of. My normal psychiatric practice is what has always been expected of me. This is what I've really wanted to do, work with the kids and their families."

"I know son," I said.

"I've always wanted to be father but I've always been terrified that I would fail at it," he said.

"All guys think like that," I reasoned. God knows I did.

"But I'm not afraid when I think of having children with Daphne," he said. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't though about Niles and Daphne having kids once or twice. The thought excites me because I would get to see them regularly and even be a big part of their lives, something I've always regretted with Freddie.

"It just seems so natural because we would be doing it together. I have found the strength to do everything that I've ever wanted to do, except for one thing…to tell her how I feel about her."

"Niles," I said gently, the time has come, "Daphne knows how you feel about her."

"What," he said standing up, "how?"

"She's always known," I said, "in her heart, but just before Christmas she heard someone say it out loud."

"Oh my god," he said pacing back and forth in front of his desk. Please son, don't have a panic attack, "and she didn't hear it from me."

"Get a grip Niles," I said stopping him in his tracks, "It's okay. The point is she knows and has been going crazy lately just thinking about you."

"She thinks about me," he asked.

"All the time."

"She told you this," he said sitting on the corner of his desk.

"Yes."

"Oh my god."

"When you stopped by the apartment today," I started, "her eyes lit up like a thousand Christmas trees. That whole conversation you had about each other's eyes, pushed her a bit over the edge and she took off. She drove to Portland and back today. All because of you."

"Are you saying that Daphne," he said, "might have feelings for me too?"

"There's no might Niles," I said, "she does have feelings for you."

"Oh my god," he said again with a small smile slowly creeping on to his face. In a matter of a couple of minutes, his face went from being pale and sad to flushed and euphoric. "she does?"

"You're not the only one who is going crazy," I said, "Daphne is having a really hard time too."

"I should have said something a long time ago," he said.

"Niles, you can say that over and over again," I said, "but that's not the point. The point is, is that you're in love with her and she's in love with you."

"But what about…," he started to say. He couldn't bring himself to say his name out loud but I know that he is referring to Donny.

"You know why she said yes to him, don't you," I asked gently.

"Because I never asked her," he answered.

"That's right," I said, "I think that if you were to talk to her now, things would be different. She doesn't love Donny. She never has. She loves you. She came to you the day Donny proposed hoping that you would say something to stop her. When you didn't, she said yes."

"But she didn't mean it," he asked.

"Nope," I answered.

"I don't understand. The wedding planning, the…," he stumbled on his words, "I thought she was happy. I couldn't intrude on that."

"If you had been coming around more often, I think you would have figured it out sooner or later that she is absolutely miserable," I said, "yes she's been enjoying planning a wedding but I think she's been planning it with you in mind, not Donny. When she realizes that the groom is Donny, her face falls."

"Really?"

"She's not even attracted to Donny. I don't think she ever has been. She definitely doesn't want to marry him," I said. She doesn't. That's the truth.

"She wants to marry me," he said.

"She wants more than that with you," I said, "she wants happily ever after with you. And here's another thing…she'll kill me if she finds out I'm telling you this…when she and Donny are intimate…"

"Dad, I'm going to stop you right there, I…" he started to say.

"She thinks of you," I interrupted back. I heard Daphne gasp in the waiting room. I know I've given out too much information but damn it…it needs to be said.

"Oh my god," he said.

"Niles you know how I feel about interfering in situations like this," I said, "this time I had to step in because I couldn't let the two of you continue to be miserable. You need each other, you complete each other. If I do anything right in my life when it comes to you and Frasier, then this is it. I told you I would give anything to fix this for you. I'm going to do that right now."


	5. Acceptable Eavesdropping

I knew it was time for Niles to head out to the waiting room. Daphne was there waiting and they needed to talk. We'll cross the Donny bridge when we get to it, but right now. He needs to be with her and she needs to be with him.

"Niles," I said, "why don't you go look in your waiting room, I brought you something."

"Dad, I'm not really up for surprises right now," Niles said, "I need to process all this and figure out what to do now."

"Trust me," I said walking towards the door. I could just barely see Daphne sitting in the chair just outside the door. She was fidgeting. I could hear her sniffling. I looked back at my son with encouraging eyes. "You're going to want to see this."

Slowly he rose from his seat and made his way toward me. I leaned up against the door and struggled to keep the grin off of my face.

Niles slowly peered out and around the door frame. The second he saw her, I saw his body relax a little. Something it just naturally does when she is near. I remember the very first time I saw that happen, Daph hadn't been with us very long but I knew she'd mean something more to Niles than the rest of us.

He looked back at me and I nodded him into the waiting room. "Talk to her son. And listen. She has a lot to say too."

"Don't go anywhere Dad," he said touching my arm, his eyes pleading, "please." At the beginning of all this, I was hoping I could sneak out once I got them in the same room. But with both of them asking me to stay, well I'm not real sure how I feel about this. Part of me is honored that they want me around as they talk, the other part of me wants to give them their privacy and I think it would be too much information for me.

"I promise," I heard myself say for the second time in such a short amount of time.

Niles then slowly made his way through the door to stand in front of her. I watched him stoop down and wipe a tear off of her cheek.

"Daphne," he said, tucking a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. I watched her reach up and grab his hand as it lingered on her cheek. Something told me I was going to be stuck here for awhile.

"You're wearing jeans," she said with a sniffle. I knew it; the first words out of her mouth were about the jeans. Daphne is going to see the side of Niles that he has kept hidden from everyone for so long. This is the Niles she has unknowingly unleashed.

"Don't tell anyone," he said lovingly, "Is that my…_**my **_sweater?"

"Yes," she said. She was still holding on to his hand even when he moved it from her cheek.

"So you're the sweater thief," he joked quietly.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I meant to give it back, I just couldn't….I needed…"

"It's okay," he said, "You can wear it whenever you want to. I can't believe you've had it this whole time."

"It's all I've had of you here lately," she said, "when I have it on, it feels like your arms are around me and it's the safest feeling that I've had in I don't know how long. I'm sorry…I…"

"Hey," he said gently, "no worries, all right? If it brought you comfort than I'm glad you stole it."

He has a gentle joking sound in his voice as if he knew he would never wear that sweater again. And he was completely okay with that. It's Daphne's now and I'm sure there will be other pieces of his wardrobe that she'll stake her claim on.

There was a comfortable silence in the waiting room. My guess is that they are just staring at each other but seeing as I'm stuck in the office, god knows what could be happening. They could have bypassed the whole talking it out thing and started making out. Knowing these two, I doubt they're doing that though. The staring thing is probably what I should bet on.

"Daphne," I heard him say finally breaking the silence, "I didn't want you to find out this way. I'm so sorry."

"I've always known," she said, "in here." I guess she was talking about her heart. I stepped back into Niles office to give them at least a little bit of privacy. I didn't go too far from the door, the detective in me wanted to hear what they had to say.

"I had planned to tell you as soon as my divorce was final. I had dinner reservations made and everything. I was so excited. I just couldn't wait to tell you how I feel," he said, "but then I turned around and you were kissing...well you know."

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"Don't be. I never said anything. That much is entirely fault and I was scared."

"Scared," she asked, "of me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I was terrified that you wouldn't feel the same and I honestly didn't want to get hurt. I'd been hurt enough by Maris that I just didn't want to go through that again," he said, "but this last year has been far worse than all of those I spent with Maris."

"I…I…," I heard her start to say.

"No, please let me finish," he said softly, "I should have said something that day when you came to see me in my office. It was right there on the tip of my tongue. I just wanted to grab you and kiss you and show you that you meant the world to me. I let my ethics make the decision for me when I should have taken the chance and listened to my heart. Not telling you that day was the biggest mistake of my life."

"I'm just as guilty," she said, "I've said and done a lot of things over the years just to get a reaction out of you. When I came to you that day, I wanted you to say something. I wanted you to tell me that you loved me. I wanted you to tell me that we should be together. When you said nothing, I said yes."

"Did you see my reaction to that," he asked quietly.

"Yes," she said starting to cry, "I saw your face. I saw the pain in your eyes and I knew at that moment that I had just made the biggest mistake of _**my**_ life. I took it too far."

"Oh," he said sadly.

"To make things worse," she said choking back the tears, "I pretended to be so happy about it all. When I saw you in the kitchen shortly afterwards…"

"You were shaking," he said, "when you hugged me, I felt you tremble. It wasn't from excitement was it?"

"No," she said, "after everything that happened that night, well let's just say I haven't had a decent night's sleep since then."

"Me neither. Obviously, it's nearly 3 in the morning and I'm wide awake."

"Me too," she said. There was another short pause in the conversation. I'm not brave enough to poke my head out the door just yet but I sure would like to know what's going on. Part of me is excited by the thought of telling Frasier that I set this whole thing in motion.

"You know, I've spent most of our relationship, mine and Donny's I mean, thinking of you," she said picking up the conversation again, "wishing it was your arms around me, your face I see when I first wake up in the morning. When things got intimate, it was you I was picturing in my mind."

"Daphne, while I'm extremely flattered that you thought of me during those times," he said carefully, "I would rather not talk about you and Donny in…in that way."

"The point is though, from now on, I won't have to picture or pretend it's you. It will be," she asked, "won't it?"

I couldn't see his face but I imagine there were tears in his eyes too. Niles is an extremely emotional man, always has been.

"I love you," he said quietly. I grabbed hold of a chair in Niles office when I heard that. Finally, it has been said, "If you'll have me…"

"Oh Niles," she whispered, "I love you too."

I stuck my head out the door just in time to see Niles pull Daphne out of the chair and into his arms. Man, I'm so glad they were finally able to say the words out loud. Then they kissed. It wasn't at all like I thought their first kiss would be like. I figured it would be like one of those crazy, over the top, star crossed lovers kisses that you see in the movies. This wasn't though, it was actually quite gentle and beautiful and then I got to thinking, this is the way it should be.

Seeing my son with the woman he loves so much in his arms, wow! When they broke apart, they just stood there with their arms around each other and their foreheads touching. Man they sure took the long route to get to this point. I think despite everything, they'll realize that it was all well worth it and only make their relationship stronger.

"You really bought a house," she asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes," he answered, "you'll recognize it when you see it."

"I've seen it before," she asked.

"Yes," he answered. She has? Oh my god, he's taken her there before.

"You don't mean that lovely home…," she started.

"On Mercer Island," they said together.

"Yes," he said again.

"Oh my god, Niles," she said, "why?"

"Because," he said, "that house is meant to be ours even if I was the only one living in it. That's our house, our home. Even if we weren't together, I wasn't going to let anyone take that away from me."

"Oh Niles," she said. I could hear her start to cry, again. I didn't think she had any tears left. It's finally hitting her that Niles puts her thoughts and feelings above everyone else's.

"I just figured at one point or another, you'd come over," he said sadly, "and at least for a minute, I could pretend that…"

"There's not going to be any pretending," she said, "I'll be there."

"Really," he asked.

"Well, it only makes sense the two people who love each other and plan on spending the rest of their lives together to live under the same roof," she said. There's the Daphne I know and love.

"Really," he asked again.

"Well naturally I just assumed we would be," she said, "correct me if I'm wrong but I think I heard something about a ring too."

"You heard everything then," he said, "even the…"

"Baby talk," she said, "yep."

"And," he asked.

"And I think your father will be thrilled when he hears that he's going to get a few grandchildren out of us," she said. Damn right I'll be thrilled. "Eventually. I'm not ready to cross that bridge just yet."

"Oh," Niles said. Now I know he didn't just assume they'd go right out and make a baby but I did detect a bit of sadness in his voice.

"Niles," she said. I peeked back out into the waiting room to see her lift his chin up to look at her, "it needs to just be you and me for a while, ok? We've been through so much that I'm not ready or willing to share you with anyone yet, even if it were our baby. We've got to take this slowly. If we're going to do this right, it's just the way it needs to be."

"You're right," he said, "I completely understand and I even agree with it. I think I was just surprised that you feel the same way about kids as I do."

"Of course I do," she said, "and I can't believe you never told me about all of this."

"What," he said, "my practice?"

"Yes."

"I wanted to. I even tried a couple of times," he said. I'm still standing in the doorway watching them. Niles said down in the chair, took a deep breath and kept going with what he wanted to say, "Each time I tried, Donny walked in. I just couldn't have it getting back to him that I opened this practice. If Maris were to find out, it was just one more thing that she would try to take away from me. This is my practice. I started it because it is something that I wanted to do. Not telling you has been so hard because I've wanted to for so long. I just couldn't."

"I understand and I'm glad I know now," she said stooping in front of him much like he first did with her, "is it true, what your father said? About me giving you the strength to do this?"

"Yes," he said lovingly stroking her hair, "it's so nice to be able to do this. But to answer your question, a lot of the decisions I've made in the last several years have been because of your influence. The practice, the house, the clothes…you've shown me that I don't have to be or do what's been expected of me. I've never felt more myself than I do when I'm with you."

"So you won't be going back to the suits any time soon," she joked.

"Not all the time, no but sometimes," he said, "even though this is my focus, I still have some of my regular patients that I've been seeing for years."

"I think you look pretty sexy like this," she said with a bit of sass in her voice. I always knew it would be like this. They are going to be so comfortable and relaxed with each other. It's just going to open up a whole new world for both of them.

"Daphne," he said, "there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh Donny," she said lowering her head.

"Okay, two things," he said, "but let's not talk about the second one just yet."

"All right," she said, "what is it?"

"Um, you know what," he said looking over at me, "Dad, you need to hear this too."

"Son if you are going to talk about sex or anything like that," I said, "I don't want to hear it."

"No it's not that. We'll have that conversation privately," Niles said winking at Daphne who blushed ever so slightly, "It's about Frasier."

"Oh," Daphne and I said at the same time.

"I am totally fine with him finding out about us because now that we're together, I'm not hiding it," Niles said, "but I'm not ready for him to know about this practice or the house for that matter."

"I understand," Daphne answered, "I promise."

"I'll do my best son but you know he'll start asking questions," I said. He can't leave well enough alone.

"Well, it's going to take a while to get the house fixed up the way we want it," he said, "that will give me some time. I'm not planning on keeping this from him forever, just one thing at a time."

"Does the house need a lot of work," I asked.

"No, I just thought given the recent turn of events," he answered winking at Daphne, "that Daphne and I could take the time to fix it up and decorate it together. Then maybe by the time it's all finished, we'd be ready to take the step of moving in together."

"I like that plan," Daphne said. "Do you have the keys?"

"I do."

"Can we go see it," she asked, "please."

"Dad," he said as he stood up, "Come with us."

"Aw, you don't need me to," I said. They need a bit of private time just the two of them.

"Dad, we're going to have a lifetime of alone time," he said, "I want you to see it. Hopefully you'll want to spend a lot of time there with us."

"Please Mr. Crane," Daphne said, "come with us."

I looked at my watch. It was obvious I wasn't going to get to sleep any time soon anyway. I'm too excited for my son and Daphne. Might as well go take a look at the house they are going to make their home in.

"Oh all right," I said as Daphne gave me a hug. She whispered thank you in my ear. My son's eyes said it all.

As we made our way outside of the office and down to the lobby, Daphne held on to Niles hand so effortlessly. Loving each other is effortless for them. It's just a natural thing and I couldn't be happier for them. A thumbs up from the night guard made me smile.

"Hey Niles," I asked, "now that you have Daphne, do you still think you'll get a dog?"

"With your help," he said looking at Daphne who nodded, "we just might."


	6. The House on Mercer Island

I followed them out of the office building and on to the side walk. Daphne never let go of his hand and I know that there is so much that they still want to say to each other. I can just tell. There are also a lot of things that are understood without having to say a word.

As we walked to Niles' car, he said he would drive because I sure as hell don't know where this house is, I watched him bring her hand to his lips and kiss it. I know he did this just because he could and that's when he noticed that Daphne's ring was not on her finger.

"Daphne," he asked, "I know we said we would deal with the whole Donnie situation a bit later but have you already talked to him? Your ring is gone."

"Oh, I took it off on the way over here," she said looking back at me, "I thought I should talk to Donnie first but your father thought it was more important for us to talk and then deal with Donnie later."

"I think he made a good call," Niles said looking back at me with a smile. I knew this was the right thing to do but now I'm beginning to wonder when they will deal with the whole situation with Donnie and telling Frasier for that matter. "Where is the ring?"

"Oh, it's in my car," I said turning around and walking towards my car.

"I'll get it Dad," he said reaching for my keys, "I don't want to see it back on her finger, but I also don't want it to be just lying around."

I stood there next to Daphne and watched my son as he made his way to my car to retrieve the ring. That is very thoughtful of him to do and to be honest, that ring probably cost Donnie a pretty penny. Knowing Daphne, she'll give it back to him. She stood there beside me and I could see a glimmer in her eyes. They're different tears than I had seen earlier in the evening.

"Are you okay," I asked.

"Hmm," she said finally tearing her eyes off of Niles.

"Are you okay," I asked again.

"I'm better than okay," she said touching my arm, "how you knew that this is what we needed is beyond me, but I'm glad you stepped in."

"Daph," I said, "somebody had to. You two are way too stubborn sometimes and that's probably why you let things get this far."

"You're right, it probably would have dragged out right up to the wedding," she said looking back at Niles.

"Are you sure about that," I said revealing a secret I knew she had, "especially since you cancelled the Inn already?"

"How'd you know about that," she asked with wide eyes.

"I have ears," I said, "I heard you do it."

"Oh," she said.

"When are you going to tell Niles about that," I asked.

"When we're alone," she said quietly, "there's so much I need and want to say to him."

"I know Daph," I said.

"Cancelling the Inn was my first step," she said with a breath, "but then I started to drag my feet. If you hadn't stepped in, I don't know what would have happened."

"I want you to know that I love the both of you very much and," I said, "I did this because I've been sitting here watching two people who are madly in love with one another going crazy."

"Well," she said wiping a tear from her cheek, "you did the right thing. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"You don't have to thank me," I said, "I'm just glad that I could finally do something great for my one of my kids."

"I'm sure Niles is beyond grateful too," she said, "he looks so tired."

"So do you. I hope we'll all be able to get some much needed sleep after tonight," I joked.

"Me too," she said with a sigh, "as long as he is beside me, I think I'll sleep just fine from now on."

Good. They need it and something tells me that's going to happen before they even approach the Donnie situation. I have a feeling a couple of days will pass before anything happens on that end. Maybe they'll bring it up when we get to the house.

"Got it," Niles said walking back over to us, "this is a safe neighborhood but you never know."

"Good idea son," I said reaching for the ring, "I'll hold on to it."

"Thanks Dad," he said opening the back door for me and then reaching to open the front door for Daphne, "ready to see the house?"

"You bet," I said. I lingered just a bit before getting into the car. I wanted to see what they would do or say to each other. I watched my son gently wipe away a stray tear off of Daphne's cheek and whisper "No more tears. There have been too many already," and then he whispered "I love you" to her. Daph just looked at him and smiled. "I love you too," she said and leaned in to kiss him. Again, another gentle kiss. I wonder if they are holding back because I'm here or if they are just waiting until things are a bit settled to go all out.

"Let's go then," he said after getting Daphne settled in the car. When he closed her door, he looked at me with one of the widest grins I've ever seen on his face. He tapped the window, pointing at me. It was one way to thank me for the gift I had just given him. I have a gut feeling that if Niles is left alone for even a minute, he'll lose it. Not out of sadness but because he's so damn happy. I don't know any other way to describe it other than to say a huge weight has just been lifted off. He doesn't have to pretend, he doesn't have to deny it, and he doesn't have to hold back anymore.

Niles stopped when he got to the driver's side door. I think was trying to compose himself and that's exactly what I told Daphne when she asked.

"What's he doing," she said anxiously.

"Don't worry Daph," I said, "I'm sure he just needs a minute to compose himself. His life has just been made."

"So has mine," she whispered. "So has mine."

Niles got in the car looked over at Daphne and smiled. As he put the key in the ignition, she slowly reached over to stroke his cheek and then run her fingers through his hair. That seemed to have an instant calming effect on my son. He reached for her hand and kissed it gently.

We rode in silence for a few minutes. I got to thinking about the things that were said when he told her about the house. She knew exactly which house he was talking about. I had to know how she knew about it.

"Hey Daph," I said leaning up toward the front seat, "You've been to the house before, haven't you?"

"I…I," she said looking over at Niles.

"It's okay," Niles said, "You can tell him."

"Yes, I've…we've been there," she said.

"I don't understand," I said.

"Well, you've always known how much I've liked the house," Niles said and I nodded, "it turned up on a Parade of homes a few years ago. I had to go and see it. I went to see it by myself first. Then…I…I asked Daphne to come see it too."

She smiled at the memory. I can't believe that they kept this from everyone for the last several years. It makes me wonder if they are hiding something else. As upset as they've been lately, it probably wouldn't surprise me if they were but I'm not going to push the envelope. If they want to tell me, they will.

"I fell in love with the house the moment I got up close to it," he said carefully navigating the road, "When I brought Daphne to see it and we walked in through the door together…"

"It was home," they said quietly together.

Daphne looked out the window and tried to blink back the tears. Wow this house definitely has some kind of effect on them.

"It wasn't just the house," she said to the glass, "It's beautiful but it was the feeling I had walking through it with Niles. I could just picture so many things. From the way we decorated it to the dog. I felt safe and it scared me to death."

"Why," I asked. I asked it almost for Niles. I could tell he wanted to say something but it caught in his throat and he just couldn't get the word out.

"I was scared the dream would never come true," she said. Hearing her say that just about broke my heart, then I remembered that they are sitting here together, making their dreams come true.

"Daph," I said, "you don't have to worry about that now."

"No you don't," Niles said looking over at her with a smile. "I'm going to make sure your dreams come true."

"You already have," she whispered.

It took us all of ten minutes to get across the bridge this early in the morning. The rest of the way we drove in silence but they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. I can't say that I blame them. Man, Frasier is going to have a really hard time getting used to this.

Before too long, we turned off of the main road and onto a quiet little strip of road where the homes were just immaculate. Through the trees, I caught glimpses of Lake Washington. I really need to go to a sporting goods store and stock up on fishing gear.

"Okay," Niles said pulling into a drive way with a three car garage, "here we are."

"My god, it's huge," I said looking at the home in front of me. I had seen the house before but only pictures, this is like I'm in Hollywood getting ready to step into a famous movie stars home.

"I told you it was big," he said getting out of the car.

"Damn," I muttered.

"Just wait until we go inside," Daphne said as Niles opened both of our doors.

"Niles, the landscaping," I said looking at the garden just by the front door, "there's no way you can maintain this all yourself."

"No problem," Niles said taking Daphne's hand, "I have a patient whose father is a landscape architect. I actually saw his daughter this afternoon and mentioned this place. Once we're settled, I'm going to start seeing her here and while she's in session he's going to work on the landscape. It's a win win situation really."

"Patients at your house," I said. That's a little creepy.

"They're kids Dad," he said as we walked up the entry way. He pointed to a doorway just to the right of the front door, "it has a separate entrance. This is a nice man whose wife died. His daughter is having a really hard time adjusting."

"Oh," I said. I still think he's crazy bring patients into his home but if he can keep the two separate and get some yard work out of the deal then he's a pretty good businessman too.

We got to the front door and I watched Niles put the key to the lock. I don't know if Daphne noticed or not but he was shaking a bit. I then saw Daphne take her hand and place it on top of his, she did notice.

"Um Daphne," he said as the locked turned, "you should know that I negotiated some of the furniture in with the sale of the house."

"Like what," she asked.

"You'll see," he said opening the door and allowing us to enter first, "I took care of switching the electricity and water to my name today."

He flipped the switch on the wall behind us and we were standing in an entry way with marble floors and a gorgeous staircase off to the right. Daphne walked slightly ahead, it surprised me that she knew where she was going. I wonder if she's going to have a breakdown. I'm sure Niles will just as soon as he gets the chance.

"Dad," he said, "how can I ever thank you?"

"Grandchildren," I said, "just give me a few grandchildren and that will be thanks enough."

"I'll see what I can do," he said hugging me.

"Oh my god," Daphne said from the other room.

"She found the piano," he said walking towards the great room. I was blown away by the wall of glass in front of me.

"Niles," she said crying again, "the piano."

"I couldn't let it go," he said, "you said that you loved it, even if you can't play."

"I did," she said, "I want my children to learn to play though."

"I think that can be arranged," my son said, "let's go exploring. There are a few more things that I negotiated here and there but nothing as grand as the piano."

"Can I," I asked nodding toward the patio.

"Make yourself at home Dad," Niles said, "will you be okay on the stairs?"

"I'll manage," I said, "I've got a devil of a physical therapist who's been making me climb stairs back at home."

"One at a time," Daphne said with a wink.

We went our separate ways. I'm not sure where Niles dragged Daphne too but I'll find them sooner or later. They need a few minutes by themselves anyway. I'm going to enjoy spending time here. I can tell that just by walking out on the patio. There's a pier with a little dock house on the end, perfect for fishing in the rain. I'm sure Niles won't mind if I kept some tackle here. Smiling at the thought, I set off to look around the rest of the house.

Taking my time, I walked through the kitchen and the den, the dining room and what I presume will be Niles' office. There's not much to do as far as it being move in ready although I'm sure they'll want to add some color to the walls and get new furniture. They are going to have a lot of fun decorating together.

Making my way up the stairs, I could hear their voices but still couldn't find them. I couldn't understand what they were saying and it's probably for the best. As I walked from room to room upstairs, I could almost picture my grandchildren running around, even a dog chasing after them. It really made me smile.

Niles and Daphne are right; this house does feel like home. I totally understand why Niles went ahead and bought this place. Whether or not he and Daphne were together, this house is supposed to be theirs. Even with Daphne's engagement and his never ending claims that he was over her, I really don't think he ever gave up on the thought of them being together.

I finally found the master bedroom in the sea of huge bedrooms. I discovered the master bathroom just as I entered the short hallway to the room. This thing is huge. Four people can fit in the whirlpool bathtub. It has their names written all over it and the closet is even bigger. My god, this might as well be a bedroom in itself.

I can't believe I'm jealous of a bathroom I am probably never going to get to use. I have a feeling when they move in and get settled, it will be off limits to guests. Niles has made a lot of changes since Daphne came into our lives but his germ phobias haven't completely disappeared yet.

Walking through another door and I could totally get lost just navigating around the master suite, I found myself in the bedroom itself and there stood my son and Daphne, finally having that movie ending kiss. It honestly felt like the room might explode and I'm just standing in the doorway. It made me smile because they are finally giving in to the undeniable passion that exists between them. If there were a bed in the room, there's no doubt in my mind they would have taken advantage of it. They do have nearly 7 years of built up emotion just waiting to be released.

Leaving them alone, I slipped out of the room quietly and made my way back downstairs to the gourmet kitchen. Niles will be in seventh heaven when he finally gets to start cooking in here. I can just see it now, dinner parties every other weekend. Maybe he'll give Daphne some cooking lessons. Not that she's a horrible cook because I haven't starved to death yet but she's got a lot of catching up to do if she's going to marry Niles.

I was taking a look at the pantry when I hear them walk in to the room. The pantry is like every room in this house, huge. I walked back in the room and smiled at my son.

"So, what do you think," he asked me.

"This place is incredible," I said, "I can see why you had to have it. It does feel like home."

"Dad, I want you to know that," he said leaning up against the kitchen counter, "I had every intention of asking you to move in here with me."

"You were going to ask me to move in here," I said stunned, "with you…in this house…"

"Of course," he said as Daphne stepped in front of him and pulled his arms around her. She smiled at me. I feel a "but" coming on. I think I know what he's going to say and if it is, I completely agree.

"But," he said, "I think that Frasier is going to have a hard enough time adjusting to Daphne and me. He's going to have an even harder time when she moves out. I'm afraid if you move in here too, that he's going to think that I'm trying to take everything away from him."

"I understand son," I said, "and that's very thoughtful of you to consider your brother's feelings."

"I think that eventually," he said, "he'll be okay with it, just not right away."

"There's a room just for you when the time is right," Daphne said.

"You can even decorate it however you want," he said.

"Which one," I asked. I'm still stunned after all that's happened in the last few hours that they already seem like an old married couple, finishing each other's thoughts and sentences.

"We thought the one downstairs," he said. He said we. Now when did they have the time to discuss which room would eventually be mine? "That way you'd have plenty of privacy. You'd be able to walk right outside. There's a fridge down there. We'll install a microwave. But under no circumstances are you to put a hot plate in your room."

"Got it," I said with a laugh. "I guess we'll keep this quiet from Frasier too."

"For now," he said, "speaking of…"

"We want to tell him right away," Daphne said pulling herself away from Niles and walking to the window. "God I love this view."

She choked up slightly and then took a deep breath.

"The sooner we tell him the better," she said, "I'm not hiding this anymore. These last few months have nearly killed me and now that it's out in the open, we need to start working on our relationship and planning our future."

"I don't know what there is to work on," I teased, "you're already behaving like an old married couple and it hasn't even been six hours."

"Well," Niles said, "we haven't discussed it but I'd like to back track just a bit and ask Daphne out on a date. I'm going to do this right now that I have the chance but before I do that, we need to talk to Frasier and Donnie."

"You're not going to do any talking to Donnie," Daphne said, "I'll handle that myself."

"But," he said.

"No buts," she said walking back up to him, "I mean it."

"Hey guys. I don't mean to interrupt your plans but we really need to figure out how we're going to break it to Frasier," I said looking at my watch, "he's going to be up soon and wondering where the hell we are."

"Oh right," Daphne said looking at Niles' watch.

"Here's a thought," Niles said. "Why don't we take you back to your car and then Daphne and I will run to the market and get some things for breakfast. You go home, get Frasier and bring him back here."

"What am I supposed to tell him," I asked.

"Just tell him that you want to take him to this new place you found for breakfast," he said, "if you can give us a couple of hours, we'll have everything ready for when you get back."

"That sounds like a good idea," I said, "should I bring you a change of clothes, Daph?"

"What," she said and then realized that she's still in her pajamas and Niles sweater. "Um, you know what? I think I'm presentable enough to run in the supermarket."

"All right then," I said, "should we go?"

Daphne was hesitant about leaving. For the moment they were safe in this little bubble. I can tell and I think Niles can too that she's not ready to leave it just yet. I watched her look into Niles eyes for reassurance and saw her face soften. "It will be okay. We're coming right back."

"Yeah Daph," I said, "I'll be out of your hair for a couple of hours and you guys can have the place to yourself for a bit. I'll hold off Frasier for as long as I can."

She nodded and then took hold of Niles outreached hand. They're quite a pair and thank god my plan worked out so well tonight. Things might just get back to normal but not before we tell Frasier.


	7. Telling The One Who Spilled the Beans

**Author's note…this chapter is longer than I anticipated but hey, we're dealing with Frasier here so I think that explains the length of this chapter

Traffic had picked up slightly as we drove back across the bridge and into Seattle. We made small talk the whole way; mostly it was me promising to keep Frasier at bay for at least a couple of hours. I did manage to get Niles to renege on keeping the house a secret. There's just no way that any of us could have kept that a secret. The boys are in too many of the same circles. Someone was bound to spill the beans if they saw Niles and Daphne shopping for furniture.

When we finally reached my car, they both got out and walked me to it. Daphne wrapped me into a big hug and whispered "Thank you, Mr. Crane", in my ear. I smiled as she kissed my cheek and then stepped back so my son could hug me.

"I love you Dad," he said, "thank you."

"Just take care of her son," I responded, "and don't keep me waiting too long for those grandkids."

"When we're ready to cross that bridge," he said, "you'll be the first to know."

"Speaking of bridges, why don't you guys start heading back across yours," I teased. "You'll want things ready for his royal highness."

"Right," Niles said looking at his watch, "thanks Dad."

"Will you stop saying that and get the hell out of here." I teased and more quietly, "I love you too, son. I'll call ya when we're on our way."

Watching my son smile as he walked to back to his car and open the door for Daphne was a proud moment. It was almost as if they were driving off into the sunset to start their new life together. And they would…just as soon as they broke the news to Frasier and to Donny.

I'm more afraid of Frasier's reaction than I am of Donny's. I think Donny has always known that things with Daphne were too good to be true. Promising her the stars was a big promise and I think over time he has come to realized it might have been a stupid although beautiful thing to say.

Part of me feels bad because I never took the time to really get to know him. When someone comes along and takes away your kid's dream, you tend to keep that someone at arms length. Yeah I said I would help him out and go on a stake out but it was Niles who made me give up on it. It was Niles that talked some sense in to me. Donny is a reasonable man and I think he will walk away with his dignity intact. So no, I wasn't worried about him at all.

Frasier on the other hand, well that's going to be a different story all together. I don't know what will make him madder, the fact that this all happened under his very nose, that I had a part to play in it or that it happened at all.

Niles and I have talked a couple of times about Frasier's insistence on keeping him from telling Daphne the truth. Neither of us could come up with a really good conclusion other than he's jealous. Of what, it's hard to say. I don't know if Frasier is envious of the attention that Niles pays Daphne or if the thought of them living happily ever after while he still struggles to find happiness himself puts a wrench in things. Regardless of the reason, he's going to have to get over it and himself because things are changing and he's not going to be able to do a damn thing to stop them.

I didn't bother pulling into the parking garage when I arrived back home because I knew we'd be leaving again soon. I'm not really sure how I'm going to lure Frasier to the car because he has a morning routine and God forbid we mess with it. I remember him reading Daphne and me the riot act right after we moved in with him. This is going to be loads of fun.

Walking into the apartment, I immediately could tell that Frasier hadn't made his way to the living room yet. There was an eerie quiet looming over the place. I kind of like the peace and quiet. If I ever move in with Niles and Daphne, I'm sure to have a lot of it. The house is so huge that even when they do have kids, there's plenty of space to get away from the noise. The quiet didn't last long when I heard the duchess thundering down the hall.

"Daphne," Frasier yelled walking out from his bedroom.

"She's not here," I said reclining back in my chair and flipping on the television.

"Oh," he said with a sigh.

"It's going to take some time to get used to her not being here," I said nonchalantly.

"Yeah," he replied, "that's coming up fast."

"Yep," I answered.

"Do you think we'll still see her a lot," he said.

"She's family," I said playing the part of a clueless father, "I'm not worried about us not seeing her because I know we will. I've still got my physical therapy and I'll be damned that we go on the hunt for a new one just because Daphne got married and moved out. I'm more concerned how it's going to affect your brother."

"That ship has sailed Dad," Frasier said, "I tried to tell him."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe you told him the wrong thing," I mumbled.

"What's that," he said.

"I'm hungry. Hey," I said snapping my chair shut and quickly changing the subject. I'm not going to yell at him for his role in that mess. He just wanted his brother to himself so he tried to put a stop to his potential happiness. He's about to learn the hard way that he does not come first in Niles life and hasn't for the last seven years and won't for the rest of their lives. Now Frasier's just going to have to accept that, "let's go get some breakfast."

"Are you crazy," he asked.

"Look at it this way. Daphne's not here to make breakfast or clean up afterwards," I said, "we're either going to have to start eating out more or learn to do it ourselves but I don't want to start today."

"Good point," he said shrugging his shoulders.

"Great, you go get dressed. I'll walk Eddie," I said clapping my hands, "and then we'll go. I've got just the place."

It took his royal highness forever and a day to take a shower and get ready. I'm sure that Niles and Daphne were enjoying the extra time to themselves. For their sake, I'm not going to complain. I can only imagine what they are talking about now that they are alone for the first time. I know that they are happy now and that they have a wonderful future ahead of them. If they're anything like Hester and I were, their future will be spectacular.

I managed to walk Eddie and sneak in a little cat nap waiting for Frasier while he primped. I have been up all night. I had a job to do, I did it and now I'm entitled to a little shut eye, even if it only lasts a few minutes.

"Okay Dad," Frasier said walking back in to the living room, "I'm ready."

"Took ya long enough," I said snapping my chair shut and grabbing my cane.

"What's with you," he said.

"I'm old and I'm hungry," I said opening the door, "come on, let's get going." 

"May be we should call Niles and have him meet us there," he said pushing the button on the elevator.

"He told me he was busy this morning," I lied watching the numbers move.

"Oh," Frasier said, "I haven't seen much of him lately. I hope he's okay."

"You know why he's not coming around as much," I said as the doors opened, "you had a hand in that too, ya know."

"I just didn't want him to be disappointed when she said no," he said.

"How do you know that's what she'd say," I asked. "Did you ever ask her?"

"What's there to ask," he said, "she accepted a marriage proposal right in front of us. That alone told me she wasn't interested."

"Just out of curiosity," I said as we approached my car, "did you ever think, even for a second, that she did it just to see how Niles would react?"

"No," he said without hesitation. Man, he's in for a BIG surprise.

I drove in silence for a moment before I realized that I needed to call Niles and tell him that we were on our way. Fishing for my phone, I made the turn toward Mercer Island. I punched in Niles number and waited for him to answer.

"Hi, it's me." I said into the phone, "we're on our way."

"Dad, where are we going," he asked as I started across the bridge.

"You'll see," I said. Traffic was a bit heavier now that it was daylight but it still took no time to cross the bridge and drive on to the island.

"I haven't been on Mercer Island in quite some time," he said, "I really have no reason to come over here."

"You will," I muttered.

"What was that," he asked as I pulled off the main road and into the neighborhood where the house was.

"Oh I just think you'll be surprised at how much time you'll end up spending over here," I said pulling into the drive way. Niles car was no where to be seen. He probably parked it in the garage. I guess it's fitting that it's a three car garage. One day my car might pull in there.

"This house is lovely," Frasier said.

"Yeah I know," I said, "the owner is a really good friend of mine. He called this morning and asked if I wanted to come to breakfast and maybe do some fishing later. He said to bring you along. You know there's a great pier around back. He tells me the fishing is excellent."

"That was awfully nice of him," Frasier said as we made our way to the front door, "the landscaping is immaculate. I bet it costs a pretty penny to keep up with it."

"Actually he worked out some kind of deal with a friend," I said ringing the doorbell. I must admit, I'm a little nervous for Frasier's reaction when the door opens. I don't know if it will be Niles or Daphne. I was just as shocked when Roz opened the door.

"Roz," I said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was invited. And rather suddenly too," she said stepping back so that we could enter, "I'm just as shocked to be here as you are. Morning Frasier."

"Roz," he said questioningly.

"Well, come on in. I guess," Roz responded. "I think breakfast is about ready."

"Would someone please tell me what's going on," Frasier said walking into the foyer, "who lives here?"

"I do," Niles said coming out of the kitchen, "well, I'm going to very soon."

"Niles," Frasier said, "What do you mean you live here?"

"This is my house Frasier," he said, "I closed on it yesterday."

"You bought a house," Frasier said, "without consulting me?"

"I didn't realize that I had to ask your permission to buy something," he said. "You're not my keeper Frasier, although you seem to think you are."

Atta boy Niles, it's about time you stood on your own two feet. I wonder where Daphne is. She didn't come to the door with Niles. "Outside." He said randomly to me, knowing that I would be the only one to understand what he was saying. All I could do was nod quietly.

"Niles, this was a big decision," Frasier argued, "I would have thought you would have had enough respect for your family to include them in it."

"I would have thought that you would have had enough respect for me to be accepting of the decisions that I make," Niles retaliated. "I am not you. Forgive me Frasier, but you actually know very little about me."

"That's not true," Frasier said, "I know you better than anyone."

"Oh you think you know me," Niles said. Roz and I just looked at each other in wonder. I smiled to myself knowing that Daphne has given him the strength to finally speak his mind and stand up on his own two feet. "There are only two people who know the real me and I'm sorry to say, you are not one of them."

"Well Niles, I'm both shocked and hurt to hear you say that," Frasier said. He made no effort to storm out though, I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was actually quite curious about the house and finding out the two people that know his brother. "Are you wearing jeans?"

"Yes and I'm sorry to just blurt things out like that Frasier, but it's the truth. I think if you took a step back and really had a good look at things, you'd know it's the truth," Niles said and then pausing to see if we could move past the fact that he bought a house without telling anyone. "Well let's not just stand here. We're here to have breakfast, so let's eat before it gets cold."

Patting Niles on the back, I followed as he led the way through the doorway to the kitchen. Thankfully it was just off the foyer and we didn't have to walk through the great room. I don't know what Niles has up his sleeve but I hope he doesn't drag this out too long.

"Martin," Roz said pulling me back a bit by the arm, "what the hell is going on here? Niles bought a house. We're all here getting ready to have breakfast except Daphne. It doesn't seem right to have a family like breakfast without…wait a sec…"

"Roz," I tried to say.

"She is here, isn't she," Roz whispered as she looked over at Frasier to make sure he wasn't listening, "she's been here this whole time. Alone…with Niles…oh my god…"

I could tell just by looking at her that Roz wasn't playing games and that she was picking up on this little scheme all too quickly. I didn't have much of a choice other than to say, "Yeah, she's here somewhere."

"What did you do," she asked, the smile slowly growing on her face.

"I fixed this," I answered simply and walked past her into the gourmet kitchen that still smelled of bacon.

"'Bout time," she muttered following me into the room.

"Niles, you sure went all out for an impromptu breakfast," Frasier said.

"Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Something big, something life changing," Niles began looking over at me for approval. It's better to just get it over with now than to drag it out. The question is how's he going to break the news, with or without Daphne? "But if you will excuse me for just one minute, I can't do this alone. Please, help yourselves. I'll be back in a minute." There's my answer.

I watched my son as he excused himself from the kitchen and walked out the patio. I couldn't see Daphne from where I was standing. I wonder if she's downstairs or even out on the pier. I'm starving so I take Niles cue and fix myself a plate. Hey an old man has got to eat. Roz wasn't too far behind me in grabbing some fruit and then we both stood back and watched Frasier. I can just see the wheels turning in his head. He's trying to figure out what's going on here.

"Dad," Frasier said, "why isn't Daphne here? This is a big thing. I just would have thought he'd include her in on this."

"Frasier we talked about this not even an hour ago," I said chewing on some bacon, "you know how hard of a time Niles is having seeing her with Donny."

"I know," Frasier said with a sigh, "I just wish I could help him move on with his life. She's getting married now. He has to accept that. She doesn't love him."

I smiled to myself after he said that. Shows how much he knows or how much he thinks he knows. He has absolutely no idea what's been happening under his nose the last seven years. He's going to find out soon enough though. I peeked out the window when I knew Roz wasn't looking and saw them standing out on the pier. If she'd seen me look out the window, she would have had to look, then Frasier would have had to look and it would ruin everything.

I wish I had a camera so that I could capture this moment. They're standing there looking out at the water as if they are the only two people in the world. I want them to have their time together like this but I also want the chore of telling Frasier and Donny to be over. So I hope they hurry up and get back in here. No sooner than I think that, they turn around and start walking back towards the house.

Turning back to Frasier, I realized that he had continued talking. "I said, isn't that right Dad?"

"What?"

"Do you ever listen to me," he asked.

"I try not to but sometimes stuff still gets through. This time it didn't," I said with a smirk causing him to roll his eyes and survey the kitchen and breakfast nook.

"I said…," he started to say when Niles and Daphne appeared in the doorway.

When they walked in, there was a look of excitement on Roz's face. Leave it to her to have this whole thing figured out and just about burst at the seams wanting details. On Frasier's face, there was a look that I can't really describe. It's almost a mixture of shock, happiness and rage all rolled into one.

"Good Morning," she said simply, holding on to Niles hand for dear life.

"Mornin' Daph," I responded. I'm going to act as if this isn't a big deal. It shouldn't be anyway. They're together now. I helped them take that step and that's that, "hungry?"

"Um, no thank you," she said looking at Niles.

"Niles," I said. I'm eating. They can talk while I eat. They do it all of the time anyway. Why should now be any different. Besides, I already know what they're going to say. I was there when it all unraveled. Niles just looked at me and shook his head.

"Daphne," Frasier said. He had a death stare at Niles who in return was comforting Daphne. "What's going on?"

"Dr. Crane," she began, "I'm…"

"Oh my god," he said, "You're pregnant aren't you?"

"Excuse me," Niles, Daphne and Roz all said at the same time. Did he really just ask her this? She walked into the kitchen holding on to Niles for dear life and Frasier just asked her if she was pregnant with another man's child.

"I thought maybe you might be. You've been so emotional lately. Is that why we're all here?" Frasier said excitedly as he thought he figured out what was going on. "You're going to tell us this exciting news. Where's Donny?"

I watched all of the color drain from Niles face at not only Frasier's words but the mention of Donny. He knows the truth but the stun of Frasier's statement shocked even me. I nearly choked on my bacon.

"Dr. Crane," Daphne said reaching for Niles arm to steady herself. I think she also did it to calm him down. She didn't even have to look at him to gauge his reaction. "I'm not pregnant. I'm sure at some point in the future I will be though and not with Donny's baby."

She said that with a wink meant just for me. She's still holding on to Niles' arm. I wonder if she can feel his heart racing. It sure looks like it might beat right out of his chest. His color is slowly starting to come back to his face but part of me wants a phone handy just in case I need to dial 911.

"You're not pregnant," Frasier said.

"No," she answered again, "I'm not pregnant."

"So Donny isn't here," he said.

"No, he's not here," she said quietly, "I won't be seeing much more of him actually."

"What," Frasier said wide eyed and glaring at Niles again.

"Frasier, I…," Niles started to say.

"No baby," she said. She called him a pet name and it wasn't something that I would have expected her to say. I was waiting for a sweetheart or a honey or a darling. But baby? It just slipped out and I could tell she caught herself say it and then I could see the smile in her eyes when she realized how comfortable and easy it was to say it. Niles was just as stunned and if he could have, I'm sure he would have just launched himself at her. "Let me try to do the explaining."

"Baby? Did you just call my brother 'baby'," Frasier repeated, raising his voice. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Dr. Crane," Daphne began. She looked over at me and all I could do is nod my approval for her to continue. "Something happened yesterday that changed everything."

"Oh I'm sitting down for this," Roz interrupted excitedly. Yep, she knows exactly what's going on.

"Well, it didn't just happen yesterday," Daphne continued, "it started seven years ago, when I met your brother."

"What happened," Frasier said. He's home but no one has turned the light on yet. I can't believe he is so clueless as to what is going on here.

"I fell in love," she said quietly.

"With who," Frasier said. Oh my god, seriously. How dense can a guy be? Niles and Daphne are standing here fighting really hard to not touch each other and you're asking her who she fell in love with. Good god, my son is a lot more self-centered than I thought.

"With your brother you idiot," she said. Then she lost it. Everything just came gushing out and she let Frasier have it, "Are you really that blind and self-centered that you couldn't see what's been happening all these years? I guess you are because I know for a fact that you tried to stop him from telling me how he felt more than once. And it's not because someone told me that you did it, I heard you do it. Now Niles and I are well aware that we didn't pave a yellow brick road for ourselves. We've spent years punching each other's buttons trying to get reactions out of each other. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. This last time we, no I let things go too far. Then yesterday, when Niles told me that my eyes were warm and full of life…well I looked into his eyes and I knew that things had to change. I just didn't know how to do that, so I took off to Portland trying to figure out what to do. Turns out someone else was willing to help nudge us in the right direction."

"Someone else," he said looking over at Roz.

"Don't look at me Frasier," Roz said, "I didn't say a word."

"It was me okay," I said, "I'm the one that stepped in. Somebody had to."

"Dad how could you," Frasier said, "You know how I feel about this."

"But this isn't your life," I said starting to feel my blood boil, "It's theirs and you shouldn't be making decisions for them."

"Frasier," Niles said quietly, "this isn't a sudden change in events. This has been happening for seven years. Daphne just hid it a lot better than I did. I let my fear talk me out of telling her on so many occasions and sometimes I did something I shouldn't have done and listened to you. It just got so crazy. Last night, she snapped. We all knew I hit rock bottom a long time ago."

"When I got back from Portland, your father sat down with me and tried to get a grasp on everything that was going on," she said looking at me, "he got me to actually say, 'I'm in love with Niles', out loud. Once I had said it, he wasted no time in taking me to him."

"And he didn't just shove her into my office," Niles said, "Dad and I had a long talk before I even knew Daphne was in the next room. She got to hear everything that I've bottled up the last several months. From the way I felt when I watched her say yes to Donny to the house to children I want to have with her to the diamond I bought."

"You bought her a ring," Roz said jumping up, "where is it? I want to see it."

"I haven't even seen it yet Roz," Daphne said looking at my son with such love in her eyes. I don't think I've ever seen her look at another guy the she's looking at him right now. It makes my heart swell with love and pride for both of them, "You'll see it when I do but we're nowhere near ready for me to wear it yet. Despite everything that's happened in the last day, we're taking baby steps here. We know that marriage and a family are all in our future but we want to take our time getting there."

"We're looking forward to our first date," Niles said. I watched my son walk over to Daphne and while he's talking to all of us, I know he's also talking just to her. I'm really enjoying watching them figure each other out like this. It's so familiar yet seems so strange to them, "and getting to know each other on a completely different level. We've getting ready to cross a fine line between being friends and lovers."

"Well, if you want my opinion," Roz said, "I don't think you'll have a problem there. You guys are about to explode as it is."

"Roz," they said together.

"Tell me I'm wrong," she said winking at them. Leave it to Roz to turn this whole thing into a conversation about sex. "Can't you feel the tension?"

"All right Roz. That's enough," I said trying to get the topic back on hand. "Bottom line here is that they're in love and I was sick and tired of watching them be miserable so I said something."

"I can't believe this," Frasier said, "why didn't anyone come to me about this?"

"Because this isn't about you Frasier," Niles said as gently as he could, "this is about us and we're extremely grateful that Dad stepped in when he did. You just tried to convince me that what I was feeling wasn't real. You were even quicker to dismiss things when I thought that Daphne might share my feelings. This is real. It's not going away and you're going to have to accept the fact that you were wrong this time."

"Dr. Crane," Daphne said quietly, "I think I know and even understand why you kept Niles from telling me all of these years."

"Oh yeah," he said with a gruff in his voice, "what reason might that be?"

"You like having someone to always fall back on," she said, "you like knowing that he's always there to fill in the gaps if your date cancels. You like it that he's always there for you. Niles is a wonderful man, there's nothing he wouldn't do for you. When you should have been there for him, you weren't. You completely ignored his feelings."

"That couldn't be the further from the truth," Frasier said.

"It is the truth son," I said, "Do you really think that when I'm sitting there in my chair watching TV, I'm not paying attention? I've been watching, _everything,___for the last 7 years. I can tell you exactly the moment when Niles fell in love with Daphne. I can tell you when she realized that she felt something for him. And I can tell you when you realized that what he was feeling was real because you tightened the reins on him almost immediately."

"I did nothing of the sort," Frasier said. I knew he was going to make this much more difficult than it needed to be. I knew he would turn it around and make it all about him.

"You kind of did Frasier," Roz chimed in, "You don't have to live there to see it. Niles isn't a puppy that will always come to you when called." Atta girl Roz! I never imagined she would stick up for Niles like that.

"It's my turn," Daphne said quietly, "I'd like to have him to myself for a while if that's okay."

"You either have to let me go or learn to share me. As of this moment, Daphne officially comes first in my life," Niles said walking up behind her and putting his arms around her, "now I will happily spend time with you, you are my brother BUT the assumption that you always have me to fall back on has to stop. Those days are over, I'm afraid."

"Have you told Donny," Frasier asked sitting on one of the barstools Niles secured in the purchase of the house.

"Not yet no," she said, "but I'd like to do that today. I want to get it over with so that we can move forward. To be honest and as your father pointed out, this was more important."

"I just don't understand," Frasier said.

"Don't understand what," Daphne said, "how two people can love each other as much as we obviously do and yet spend years playing games with one another to the point where we almost lost each other?"

"Yeah," he said simply.

"I don't think we understand it either," she said, "Despite everything… Niles and I…well we're together now and that's what matters."

"Frasier," I said jumping in, "it's not your place to really understand or mine or Roz's for that matter. Our place is to accept this wonderful thing that's happened and give them the time and space they need to sort things out for themselves. We've _all_ done enough interfering."

"So what you're saying is that you'll get married and everything," Frasier asked.

"Eventually," Niles said looking at Daphne who nodded slightly, "moving in together, marriage, children, the whole nine yards. We're even getting a dog."

"A dog," Frasier shrieked, "who are you?"

"I told you Frasier," Niles said, "I'm not at all the person you think I am. I've changed, quite a bit actually. You've just been so caught up in Frasierland that you've failed to see it. Now we're making a go of this and that's all there is to it."

"It's all we've ever wanted," Daphne said quietly, "I hope that you can find a way to give us your blessing but if you can't, you have to know that we'll keep moving forward with or without it."

"What choice do I have," he mumbled.

"Well I think this is great," Roz said standing up to hug them both. "I think it will be even better once you've told Donny. How are you going to do that by the way?"

I noticed that Frasier was still off in "Frasierland" as Niles put it. He still can't wrap his fingers around this. While Roz is grilling Niles and Daphne in her own special way, I felt a bit of sympathy for my oldest son. Maybe I should take him outside, show him the pier and try one more time to get through to him. If I'm unsuccessful, I know Niles and Daphne will at least be grateful that I tried.

"Come on son," I said patting him on the back, "let's go take a look outside."

"But Dad," he said, "I'm not done talking this through with them."

"I think they're done listening," I said, "for now anyway. Hey guys, I'm going to show him the back yard if that's okay?"

"Sure," Niles said finally helping himself to something to eat. Niles glanced at his brother with a bit of disappointment on his face. Can't say that I blame him, despite everything, he does hold Frasier's opinion in high regards. I watched Daphne follow his eyes and then whisper something in his ear that made him nod.

"Dad, they just can't do this," Frasier said.

"Why not," I asked as we walked out into the yard, "why can't they be in love and be happy?"

"It's just not fair," he muttered.

"Okay look," I said starting to lose my temper. I knew this was going to happen. He's turning this wonderful thing into something about him, "just because you are the oldest doesn't mean you have to be the first to do everything. I know that you depend on Niles for a lot of things. He has always come through for you. This is the one thing that he has ever asked for your support on and not once have you given it to him. What is it that you are so afraid of if they get together?"

"That I'll lose everything," he yelled, "there, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What do you mean lose everything," I said.

"I've lost my reputation as a psychiatrist. In Boston I was well respected and highly regarded. I'm come back to Seattle and despite my popular radio show; it's Niles that has the most prestige. Most people think I'm a joke and am just riding on his coattails. You and Daphne move in and Niles always came to us," he said sitting down in front of the stone fire pit thingie. I'm sure Niles has some fancy word for it, "having Daphne around always brought Niles to the apartment. I know he didn't just go there to see me. I know it's her that he wants to see. She's also the reason he hasn't been around as much lately. Now that they're together we're going to see less of both of them."

"Hold on there just a second," I said, "you didn't have any problem with her marrying Donny and if she did go through with that, we wouldn't see her as much. Why is this different?"

"Because it's Niles, Dad," he said, "he's always got to one up me and this takes the cake."

"Frasier, he is not nor has he ever tried to one up you," I said sitting next to him, "Niles has always lived his life trying to please others rather than himself. He is extremely good at what he does. You are too, it's just Niles doesn't let it go to his head. He doesn't share much with anyone. He's not wrong when he says that you hardly know him. You don't and until recently I didn't either. Once Daphne said yes to Donny, something changed in your brother and he came to me. Talking to him, I realized something."

"What," my son said.

"That Daphne is the first person to ever break through to your brother," I said, "and she did it without even trying. That's when it really hit me just how much he loves her."

"Does she really love him," he asked quietly.

"Good God yes," I said, "She's always been different with him. From day one their relationship has been different. I caught her once not long after she moved in with us just staring at him. I could tell she was just trying to figure him out. She caught me looking at her and I went back to the game I was watching and I'll be damned but no sooner did I look over at Niles and he was looking at her the same way."

"I see," he said.

"You know the sweater she's wearing," I said.

"Yeah."

"That's the sweater Niles lost," I said, "the one he's been trying to find for months."

"You mean," he said.

"Yep, she took it and has had it this whole time. She doesn't know this but I saw her take it," I said looking out at the water, "that's when I knew for sure that she was in love with him too. I've had my suspicions this whole time but that was the definitive sign."

"I see," he said.

"There's something else," I said.

"What's that," he asked.

"As soon as she said yes to Donny," I said taking a deep breath, "and he stood up to hug her…she looked right at Niles. She was watching to see how he'd react. You didn't see her do it because you did the exact same thing she did. You immediately looked that him."

"There's more," I said.

"What the hell else could there be," he asked. I know that he's feeling overwhelmed but maybe this will cheer him up to know that he did play a small role in all of this.

"I wasn't the one that spilled the beans to Daphne. Roz didn't do it either."

"Who did," he asked.

"You did son," I said.

"What?"

"You were on those painkillers for your back and you blurted it out when she offered to give you a massage," I said, "That's when things really started to spiral out of control. Daphne couldn't contain her feelings anymore after that and believe me she tried but she wasn't fooling anyone….except maybe you."

"She was look strangely at Niles the night of the Christmas party," he said.

"Frasier, she's been looking at him like that since day one," I said, "now do you see why I had to do this? They belong together. Now you of all people know that I don't buy into to her whole destiny and vision stuff but this time…this time it's true."

I looked back up at the house and they were standing on the balcony to the master bedroom. I guess they're giving Roz a grand tour. As I watched, Niles pointed to something in the distance and she laughed. I haven't seen Daphne laugh like that in a long time.

"Frasier," I said nudging him, "look at them."

He looked back up toward the house and it took him just a second to find them. I watched Frasier look on as Niles and Daphne laughed and cuddled…thank god this house is huge because if I ever move in here I'm not going to be able to stomach that 24/7. Niles broke away and started back into the room but Daph stopped him. Pulling him back to her, I watched her lean in and give him one more of those movie ending kisses. I looked over at Frasier and I dare say I saw him tear up slightly. I knew right then that it might take a little getting used to but deep down, he is actually very happy that his brother finally got the girl.


	8. The Closing Argument Farewell to Donny

Frasier and I sat outside for a little bit longer before Niles and Daphne joined us. Roz had to leave, something to do with Alice causing trouble for the babysitter. I think Daphne was a relieved because Roz was pressuring her for details and with everything she's been through in the last 24 hours, she really didn't want to go into much.

"Dr. Crane," Daphne said, "you will be okay with this, won't you?"

"In time," he said gruffly. My son is the biggest drama queen I know. He certainly didn't get that from me.

"Look at is this way," she said, "I was going to move out anyway and into…"

She stopped herself from finishing the sentence. I looked over at her and almost instantly I saw the glistening of tears again. I don't know how many she's got left but the well's got to be about dry by now.

"I'm sorry," she said looking at Niles. He knows what she's trying to say. There is still that part of things to deal with. I've gotta say that I'm very impressed with Niles and how he's handling all of this. That's Daphne magic at work once again. He is much calmer about things than he used to be and even though he's still a bit on edge or will be until Donny is completely out of the picture, he's holding up very well.

"Dr. Crane," Daph continued, "when I do move out, I'll be moving in with your brother. You'll see me all the time. I'm not walking out of your life. I know you've been a bit worried about that. I figure I'll probably be an even bigger part of it than I am now. We'll officially be family."

"Maybe I'll feel better when Donny's out of the picture," Frasier said.

"That's actually one of the reasons we came outside," Niles said, "Daphne wants to head back and talk to him now."

"The sooner, the better," she said, "he has no idea what's been going on. This is going to be awful for him."

"Go ahead and say what you feel Niles," I said in response to her. He may be handling this well but I know he's got something to say.

"Actually," he said, "I don't have anything to say. I would just like to get this part over with."

"Then let's get it over with," Daphne said coming to the rescue. She lifted his chin so that she could look into his eyes, "I'm not going anywhere. Ok?"

He nodded and looked back down. Frasier just sat there staring at the water. God only knows what's going through his mind. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really don't care what he thinks. He'll get over himself in time.

"Come on then," she said pulling him up with her and walking back towards the house, "let me do this and then we can start making plans of our own."

"Let's go Frasier," I said standing up and looking at the lake more time. Man, I can't wait to set up my fishing gear. I wonder if they'll let me put a couch or comfy chair at the end of the dock like they do in "Grumpier Old Men." That would be something.

Before we left the house, Daphne gave Donny a call and explained that she needed to talk to him. She used Frasier's cell phone even though Niles offered his up to her. "Son, let her use your brother's," I said to him. Using Niles' phone might tip off Donny and I knew that Daph didn't want to do that. She has enough respect for him to talk to him face to face.

Frasier and I drove back home in silence. The lack of Frasier analysis going on let me just sit back and think about all that's happened in the last several hours. I was able to help two people who I love dearly finally find each other. They've promised me grandchildren and they haven't even been out on an "official" date yet. I can't help but wonder who they will look like, how much time I'll get to spend with them and if I'll be living with them by then because I'm really starting to think that's what I would like to do. I've kind of tossed that idea around in my head for a while now; of course Daphne wasn't in the picture but still.

Niles and Daphne weren't too far behind and we made it home relatively quickly. They lingered in the car for a few minutes before they met us in the lobby. We told the doorman to give us a call when Donny arrived so that Niles could leave or hide or whatever while Daphne talked to him. He didn't want to go too far though just in case things didn't go well. At this point, I'm feeling very protective of both Daphne and Niles. I don't want to be too far away either just in case the "pit bull" in Donny decides to make an appearance.

"Hello…Ok…Thank you," she said to the caller.

I watched my son tense up as Daphne hung up the phone. We all knew who it was; we just didn't expect him to show up so soon. Daphne immediately picked up on it walked over to him, placing her hands on his arms which were folded across his chest.

"Niles," she said lifting his chin up, "it's good that he's here. Let's get this over with so that you and I can move forward and start our life together."

"But," he started. I knew he would try to argue this with her. He hinted at it back at the house but she's not backing down. She wants and needs to do this on her own.

"No buts," she said, "why don't you go wait in my room? Go rummaging through things; lie down, whatever you want."

"Really," he said. I can't believe she's actually letting him go through her stuff. Just like that. There was a time she almost left us because we were in her room. Frasier had bought her a new car just to keep her here. I know deep down she wouldn't have left, she wouldn't have left because of Niles. If I asked her that now, I'm sure she'd say the same thing.

"Really," she said stroking his cheek, "if you rummage in my closet, you'll find a green shoebox. My journals are in there. Start with the one on top. It's the one I've been writing in most recently. Actually, I take that back. Start with the marked 1993."

"But those are your private journals," he said as the doorbell rang.

"Not to you they're not," she said kissing him, "not anymore. Now go on."

I watched her turn him around and push him towards her room, patting his backside along the way. I looked over at Frasier who just rolled his eyes. Still sulking he turned and walked towards his room. It's going to take him time to adjust and that's fine but I'll be damned if he takes his frustration out on me.

"Get used to it son," I said walking to the door, "take a deep breath Daphne."

I put my hand on the doorknob and looked back towards her once more. "Are you ready?" She looked back towards her room before she gave me a nod letting me know to open the door. She's still wearing Niles sweater.

I opened the door to find Donny on his cell phone.

"I know he didn't really do it," he yelled into the phone, "but they're going to try to figure out a way to make it look like he did."

He slapped the phone shut and walked into the apartment. "Hi Martin," he said, "hello honey."

He walked over to Daphne who nervously accepted a kiss on the cheek. "Hello Donny. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too! I missed you," he said leaning in to kiss her. I watched Daphne turn her face so that his lips met her cheek again.

"Donny," she said wringing her hands, "we need to talk."

"Yeah," he said sitting down at the table, "I can tell you're a bit upset. I guess you heard that the inn lost our reservation."

"Yes, about that," she said.

"I guess we're back to square one," he said, "but no worries. I'll marry you anywhere."

Daphne took one look at me and took a deep breath. I nodded to her and touched her arm to give her that little push and to remind her that even though Niles wasn't in the room, he was still with her. She's still wearing that silly sweater. She looked back at her room and smiled and then smiled at me and started to speak.

"Donny," she said sitting next to him, "they didn't lose our reservation."

"What," he said with confusion written all over his face. He looked over at me and honestly had no idea what message I was sending to him. I tried to play it off like I was just as shocked as he is.

"The inn didn't lose our reservation," she said looking at me. She then took a deep breath and said, "I cancelled it…several weeks ago."

"Why would you do that," Donny asked confused, "I thought you loved it there."

"I do love it there," she said, "It's a beautiful place."

"So what's the problem," he asked, "do you want a more traditional church wedding then?"

"No, it's not that," she said, "it's not the place. It's the wedding itself. It…it…"

"It's okay Daph," I said gently, "just tell him the truth."

Donny looked over at me completely puzzled then back at Daphne who was fiddling with the sleeve of Niles sweater. She pulled her hand inside the cuff and brought it to her face. I'm sure there are some traces of his cologne on it. I watch her look back at her room and take a deep breath.

"The wedding," she said, "the whole thing just isn't right."

"I don't understand," Donny said, "you don't want a small ceremony at the inn, you don't seem to want a church wedding. Do you think we should elope?"

"I don't think we should get married at all," she said. "It's not right."

"You…you…don't want to get married," he said.

"Oh I want to get married," she said gently, "it's just that I don't want to marry…."

"You don't want to marry me," he said finishing her sentence.

"That's right," she said, "Donny, I love you dearly but I'm not _**in**_love with you. I can't force myself into a marriage when I am not completely in love with the person. It wouldn't be fair to either one of us."

"I see," he said.

"There's more," she said. More? I just thought she would let him down easy. I'm not sure what she's going to say now. Is she going to mention Niles?

"More," he said defeated, "how could there possibly be more?"

"I'm in love with someone else," Daphne said in almost a whisper.

"I see," he said sadly, "have you been in love with this person this whole time?"

"Honestly," she said, "I think I've been in love with him my whole life."

"How can that be possible," Donny said.

"I don't know," she answered, "I met him and my life hasn't been the same since. We've done so many things just to get a reaction out of each other. I hid it so well because for much of the time I just didn't know what to do about it. Things were always so complicated. My actions have hurt him so much over the years and I'm at the point where I can't pretend anymore. I don't want to. It's only hurt him more and it hurt me too."

"I think I know the answer," he said clearing his throat, "but was I…"

"Yes and no," she said quietly. Way to go Daphne, you are handling this wonderfully. Niles would be proud. I know I am. "I really did care for you. I mean I do care for you. I thought I could make go of things but it didn't take me long once we were engaged to realize what a fool I was being. I just don't love you the way a wife should love you."

"And you love him that way," he said.

"Yes, very much so," she said, "Donny you have to know that up until recently, I had no idea that he felt the same way. I mean all these years I hoped he would but never had a clue that he actually did. Once I found out the truth, things just spiraled out of control…until last night when someone stepped in. He helped us both to realize just how lost we would be without each other."

"I'm guessing that was you, right Marty," Donny said looking at me again.

"I'm sorry Donny," I said. It was all I could say. I'm sorry that he got caught up in all of this but I will say I am not in the least sorry for the outcome. He simply nodded at me as if he in some way understands why I did what I did.

"And I'm going to take a shot in the dark that it's Niles," Donny said towards Daphne.

"How did you know," she asked. I knew it. I knew he saw there was something between them. It's pretty damn obvious that Niles and Daphne are meant to be together. Even the man she was supposed to marry recognizes that.

"I don't know," he said leaning back in the chair, "I guess I've got eyes too. I think I've seen probably the same thing Martin has seen. I think I've always known deep down too. I was just hoping I was wrong."

"I'm sorry," she said. I knew she meant it. Daphne wasn't just sorry for breaking things off with Donny but for stringing him along for the last several months while she tried to figure things out. "I never meant to hurt you this way."

"Oh I think you've hurt him a lot more than you could ever hurt me," he said. "I mean this hurts. It really does but I think he got the worst of it; especially when you accepted my proposal right in front of him. "

"Yes," she said, "that's very true."

"Now you can fix that," he said.

"Donny, I…," she started to say.

"It's okay Daph," he said stopping her, "you don't have to explain any more than you already have. Actually, I take that back. There is something I'd like to know. What would you have said if I had to put you on the stand during his divorce proceedings?"

"I'm not really sure but," she whispered, "I think I would have ruined the case for him."

"Yeah," he said, "I kind of figured you would do that when I first met you."

"Then why did you…," she started to ask.

"At first I think I was trying to distract you," he said, "but then you won me over and I realized I wanted more than just your friendship."

"It may not mean much," she said, "but you'll always have my friendship."

I knew that Daphne wouldn't try to write off Donny completely. Niles won't either. I hate to say it but if it weren't for Donny, they might still be playing games with each other. This torture might have continued for God knows how long. She was right when she told Frasier that almost losing each other was the smack in the face that they needed to actually find each other.

"Just not your heart," he said.

"I'm sorry, no," she said. She then reached in to her pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. Sitting it gently in front of him, she silently ended that chapter of her life.

"The stars were a pretty big promise, weren't they," he said fiddling with the ring.

"No, they just aren't the promise for me," she said, "I need something simple, like this sweater."

"Is that his," Donny asked.

"Yes," she said looking down.

"Thought so," he said standing up, "it fits you."

"Yes it does."

"Well, I guess this is it then," Donny said standing up, "Martin it's been a pleasure. I'm not going to thank you for stepping in because it cost me something pretty special."

"You don't have to," I said reaching up to shake his hand. He really is a nice person, a bit of a slob, but nice none the less.

"Daphne," he said turning to her, "I hope that you and Niles are very happy together and that you are able to make your dreams come true together."

"Thank you," she said hugging him, "I am truly sorry."

"I know," he said, "but you're right. This is for the best. Take care."

She walked with him to the door and showed him out. I have to say I'm pretty proud of Daphne. She didn't shed a tear. She just exhaled and turned to lean on the door.

"Kind of ironic that it was because of Niles that I met Donny, isn't it?"

"I'm proud of you Daphne," I said, "you handled that with a lot of grace."

"Thank you," she said looking up just as Niles walked into the room with one of her journals.

"Is he gone," he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she said, "you were sitting in the hall listening, weren't you?"

"Actually, no," he said. He hand didn't race to his nose so I'm certain he stayed in her room. "That conversation was between you and Donny. I didn't need to hear it. I was reading this."

"Oh," she said.

"Are you okay?"

That's my son, always thinking of her first.

"I am now," she said quietly. "This is the first time in a long time that I actually believe it too."

"So," he said holding up her journal, "day one...you too?"

She simply nodded. I could tell that she didn't want to go into many details with me around. I don't really want to hear them either. I did my job. Now I get to sit back, relax and watch them discover this new world that they are creating together and pressure them for grandkids! Of course I'm going to be subjected to sickening displays of affection, annoying grumblings from Frasier and I'm sure Roz will come into play pressing Daphne for all the details. It's gonna be great!

"So what do we do now," she asked.

"Well, we could go on our first date," he answered, "tonight…if it's not too soon."

"Son, I don't think I'd call nearly seven years too soon for a first date," I said reminding them I'm in the room.

Daphne laughed. It's good to see her laugh, it's been awhile. She stood there for a bit just staring at him. He looked over at me nervously and I just smiled. I'd seen that look on her face just yesterday. She's looking deep into his eyes but this time there would be no running off to Portland.

"Nothing fancy, ok?" she said, "I just want to be with you."

"Fancy, whatever gave you the idea I'd come up with…," he started to say before we heard this loud "thud" sound come from outside of the apartment. It almost sounded as if someone punched the wall.

"What was that," Daphne said turning toward the door.

"It sounded as if," Niles said walking over to the door and opening it only to find Donny standing there cradling his hand, "as if someone hit the wall."

"Better it be the wall then you, right Niles," Donny said sarcastically.

"Donny," he said backing back into the apartment. I stood up from my chair and slowly walked toward the door. I don't know if this was just a delayed reaction on Donny's part and he'll walk away with no trouble OR if this is just the beginning and he's going to try to duke it out with my son. If he tries to pick a fight, I've got a cane and I'll use it if I have to.

"I wondered if you were here," he said examining his hand, "then it dawned on me. Why wouldn't you be here? You're never that far away from her anyway."

"Donny," he started to say.

"I gotta say Niles," Donny interjected, "I don't know how you've coped the last several months. You let her go. You never said anything. Why?"

"Because," my son said turning towards Daphne, "the only thing I've ever wanted is for Daphne to be happy. Even if that meant she ended up with someone else."

"Must have been rough," Donny said.

"You have no idea."

"I think I'm about to," Donny answered cradling his hand.

"Let me get you some ice for that," Niles said slowly backing away and turning towards the kitchen.

"Are you all right," Daphne asked.

"Daphne," Donny said walking up to her and lowering his voice. I think he hoping Niles wouldn't hear him but I still can. "Are you sure about this? We can leave right now and get married tonight and forget this ever happened."

"Donny," she said backing away from him, "if I'm going to rush out in the night to marry anyone, it's going to be him."

"Please, don't do this," he said, "please."

At this point I don't know who to keep my eyes on, Daphne, Donny or Niles who just walked back in to the room. I couldn't make out what he's thinking. He looks just kind of blank but not defeated. Maybe they mentioned this possibility while they were driving over here and he had Daphne's assurance that she was his and he was hers.

"Here you are," Niles said quietly. Handing Donny an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel, he then steps beside Daphne and for the first time, they really look like a team taking on the world together. Hester and I were a team and a damn good one. Hopefully we've passed that trait onto our youngest son.

"Donny," I said gently. "Look how they share a space."

"What," Donny said completely confused by my comment.

"They just share a space," I said, "it's really simple. They don't even have to try or put any effort towards it, they just are. That's how their love works. It's effortless and that's how it's supposed to be."

"Our love was that way," he argued.

"No, no it wasn't," I said, "it took a lot of work on both your parts and as an outsider looking in, you two were never that comfortable together…on any level."

"That's crap and you know it," he said getting angry. Now it's time to raise my voice a bit.

"Look at them," I said, "Look how relaxed they are just standing next to one another at a time like this. For most people, there'd be blubbering and shaking. They're as calm as they can be and do ya know why?"

"No," he said.

"Because they were made for each other," I said, "I'm not just saying that because he's my son and Daph's like a daughter to me. A blind person could see it and it's been this way since the moment they met."

"You're going to regret this, Daphne," Donny said walking to the door. "This isn't what you want."

"My only regret is keeping my mouth shut for so long," she said quietly. "If I had spoken up years ago, Martin would already have his grandchildren."

She called me Martin. I can feel the tears in my eyes beginning to form. Rather than let them fall, I've got to fake a cough or something so they don't see them.

"I think you should go now," I said clearing my throat. Looking at Donny I could tell that he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere trying to argue. I think it's just his nature to put up a fight being a lawyer and all but I never would have guessed that hearing Daphne called me by my name would be the closing argument. But it is and they won.

Donny took one more look at us and walked out of the apartment without another word. Closing the door behind him, I couldn't help but wonder if we'll see him again. With the house on Mercer Island, I think the chances are slim but ya never know. Like I've said, I'll always be grateful to Donny for freeing my son of that stick Maris but I think that's about it.

Turning back towards my kids, yes I said my kids, all I could bring myself to say is, "You called me Martin."

"I did, didn't I," Daphne said with a smile. Walking over to me, she gave me the biggest hug I think I've ever had. "I love you, old man, do you know that?"

"Yeah," I said, "I know."

Smiling, I hugged my son too. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to; it's written on his face. I did right by my kid today.

I fixed this.

**Author's Note*** Sorry for the delay and know this isn't done yet. There is an Epilogue that's in the works and should be completed soon. If you this little "alternate world" I've created for the Cranes, stay tuned because I've got lots of ideas to keep it going! You haven't seen the last of me!


	9. Epilogue   5 years later

Epilogue-5 years later

Sitting here the waiting room at 2:30 in the morning isn't exactly how I expected to spend my evening but I'm glad to be sitting here none the less. It's almost 5 years to the minute that I brought Daphne to Niles and fixed things for them and now I'm waiting for news on whether or not I have a new grandson or a granddaughter.

I was out fishing on the pier when Niles came to tell me they were leaving for the hospital. To make a long story short, I tossed a really good fishing pole into Lake Washington as I high tailed it up to the house on Niles heals. "Dad, you don't have to come with us just yet…" he started to say. "Like hell I don't," I said, "I'm coming with you. End of discussion." Damn right I'm going with them.

And here we are…about 12 hours later, still waiting for Baby Crane to hatch. They don't want to call Frasier or Roz until after the baby's born. I'm not really sure why but I think they want to make sure that this moment remains about them and their baby. Can't say that I blame them, both Frasier and Roz probably would have taken over the whole freaking thing. A complete stranger probably could walk by the room and have no idea that the two people making the biggest fuss over things weren't even the kid's parents. Niles and Daphne even went to great lengths to ensure that the minimal amount medical staff were in the room.

I have to say that it's been kind of nice having the waiting room to myself while I wait, no so patiently I might add, for news. It's given me a lot of time to "reflect" on the last five years. Things sure have changed, not just for Niles and Daphne but for me too and my relationships with my sons. I even have a girlfriend now, Ronee. She's been hanging out up here with me for much of the evening but got called into work when that jackass who was supposed to fill in for her changed his mind at the last minute. Oh well, it leaves me to my thoughts as Frasier would say.

Niles and Daph sure weren't kidding when they said that it needed it to be just the two of them for awhile. I never dreamed they'd make me wait five years. It's been a great five years for them though. They've travelled a ton; something they knew wouldn't be as easy to do with kids in the picture. With Niles' encouragement, Daphne established herself as a prominent pediatric physical therapist. She still works with me but it's different now and she's definitely slacked off in the last couple of years.

"Now's the time for us to be selfish," they explained. "We want to try to accomplish as many things together that we've dreamed over the years before we have a baby." And they did, it took 'em long enough but they did. They're ready to be parents now and I expect to have a couple more grandkids, one right after the other and in the near future too.

Even though they were in no rush to make me a grandpa, their relationship moved pretty quickly there in the beginning despite the insistence they were going to take things slowly. After their first official date, they were inseparable. I thought it was fantastic. Frasier was so jealous that both Niles and Daphne took to avoiding him for awhile. It got so bad that even I started hiding out at McGinty's more often. We reached a breaking point when Frasier found me there and started coming with me. I had to have a small talk with Niles about making time for his brother because Frasier was driving me crazy.

Surprisingly, Daphne agreed with me on this and made sure that Niles spent time away from the house with his brother.

It didn't take Niles and Daphne nearly as long as we all thought it would to get the house ready. Niles moved in first, not necessarily by choice but by circumstance. His apartment at the Montana sold almost instantly to a colleague of his. It was such a quick transaction that before he could even blink, Niles had to be out of there. Daphne wasn't far behind. She quietly started boxing up her things and taking them over almost immediately after Niles moved in. I knew that after the first time she spent the night there, she'd never sleep at the Elliott Bay Towers again.

Things just kind of naturally happened after that. They never made any real big announcements about anything. That's not their style. I would have done the same thing if I were them because Frasier was all up in their business all the time. We knew they were engaged. It didn't take all that long for Niles to slip that one of a kind ring on to her finger once they moved in together. They slipped off to get married without anyone knowing it. One day I met them at Nervosa after they got back from vacationing in Hawaii. It was then that I noticed the matching platinum bands they were both wearing. "So you're officially a Crane now," I said with a wink and a smile. That's all that was said, that's all that needed to be.

I started spending a ton of time over at their house. It just kind of gradually became more and more comfortable for me there then at Frasier's. He started seeing someone new and while I really like Charlotte, they didn't make it easy for me to be there. I was always in the way and Frasier complained of no privacy. Imagine that! With Niles and Daphne, I was always welcome. I guess they figured that out too because my birthday present from them this year was my own set of keys to the house. They told me, "We just thought with a baby on the way, you'd want to be here with us." I don't know what surprised me more, the invitation to move in with them or the fact that I was finally going to get that grandchild they've been promising me.

So Eddie and I moved in with Niles and Daphne and that silly mutt of theirs, Manchester. They shocked everyone the day they brought home a 4-month-old Lab/Great Dane puppy from the humane society that was already tipping the scales at 40 pounds. He's been their baby these last five years and he really is a great dog. They've had him certified as a Pet Therapy dog and he's actually allowed in the hospital. Niles and Daphne bring him up here a couple times a month to visit the children's ward but mostly he just hangs out at their office with the kids.

The really cool thing about all of this is that I've met someone too. Niles and Daphne took me to a furniture shop to pick out a few things for my room and ran into an old friend there. Ronee Lawrence used to babysit for the boys when they were younger. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her and I was instantly drawn to her. Niles invited her over drinks and we really hit it off. She practically lives with us now and Daphne quietly mentioned to me that if things were to turn serious, meaning marriage, Ronee would be just as welcome.

I wish she was still here. I want to meet my grandchild with the lady that I love by my side…

"Dad," I heard Niles say gently. I must have dozed off there for a second. I felt him touch my shoulder gently and say my name again, "Dad."

"Oh hi son," I said blinking away the sleep.

"She's here," he said with a giant grin growing on his face. He looks tired and who can blame him, they've been at this for over 12 hours now. Behind the tired is a sparkle only a new father can have.

"She," I said excitedly.

"It's a girl. We have a little girl," he said with such pride, "come on Daphne wants to see you."

"How is she," I asked as my son helped me to my feet. I looked around the room and found it to be surprisingly empty this early in the morning. I had to tell someone so I told the orderly mopping the floor, "I have a granddaughter!"

"She's on top of the world," he said as we walked, "exhausted but I've never seen her look more beautiful."

"So was your mother when you were born," I said as he held the door to Daphne's room open for me. I walked in to find my daughter in law curled up in bed, cuddling a tiny bundle in a pink blanket. She looks tired but she's glowing through the exhaustion.

"Honey," Niles said gently as he skirted around me to get to his wife's bed side, "I had to wake him up but here he is."

"Oh Martin," Daphne said tearing her eyes away from the baby's. Her eyes are just brimming with tears of happiness, "come and meet your granddaughter."

"Daph," I said walking up to her and kissing her on the forehead, "you did it. How do you feel?"

"Um, I feel so many things I can't quite put them into words. It's all so overwhelming," she said looking back down at my granddaughter and then at my son, "and I didn't do it alone. You should be very proud of your son. He was amazing. He all but delivered the baby himself."

"When your wife and child are involved," I said, "you find a strength you never knew you had. Oh Daph, I'm so proud of you. And you too son."

"Here," Niles said pulling up a chair next to Daphne, "have a seat and so you can hold your granddaughter."

"You mean you're actually going to let me hold her," I asked. I didn't get that honor when Frederick was just a few minutes old.

"Of course we are," Daphne said as Niles gently lifted the baby into his arms. He kissed her forehead before turning to me. "Why wouldn't we?"

"It's just," I said as Niles placed the baby in my arms, "Frasier and Lilith wouldn't let me touch Frederick when he was first born."

"Yeah, well we're not Frasier and Lilith," Niles said putting his hand on my shoulder, "Avery Hester, this is your grandpa."

"Oh my god," I said. My eyes are welling up with tears as I look at this tiny creature in my arms, "she's gorgeous."

"Yes she is," my son said sitting next to Daphne and gathering her into his arms, "she gets her looks from her mother."

"She's got your eyes though," I said staring into the bluest eyes I've ever seen on a baby.

"I seem to recall about this time five years ago, those sparking blue eyes sent me on a road trip to Portland," Daphne said.

"Should we change her name to Portland then," Niles teased.

"Nah," I said, "Avery is perfect. A lot's changed in the last five years."

"Yes it has," Daphne said, "if it weren't for you, I don't know that we'd be here now."

"Sure you would," I said watching my granddaughter yawn, "you would have found your way together eventually. I'm just glad I could be the one to give you that nudge."

"Thank you Martin," Daphne said with a yawn.

"Why don't you get some sleep," Niles said brushing her hair back a bit. They both look exhausted. It has been a long day for them and me. I've been here this whole time too.

"Not yet," she said, "the nurse said we should try to feed Avery soon."

"Then you'll get some sleep," he asked.

"Well, I…" she started to say. Poor Daph. She's so excited and yet so exhausted. Hester was the same way when Frasier was born.

"Please," he said, "the baby will want to sleep a bit too."

"Daphne," I said, "trust me; you're going to want some sleep. Now's the time to get it too. You've got a hoard of nurses to keep an eye on her while you do."

"I just don't want to miss anything," she said.

"As your personal physician," Niles started to say.

"Oh cut that out," she said, "I know what you're going to say. What about you? You've been up this whole time too."

"Yes but I didn't just give birth. My body hasn't been through the ringer like yours has. My hand maybe," he teased, "seriously though, honey you have to get some rest."

"I'm obviously not going to win this battle, am I," she said as the nurse walked in.

"Nope," Niles said standing up allowing the nurse to check Daphne's IV and ask her a few questions.

"You know what," I said kissing the baby on the head and looking up at Niles, "I think I'm going to get out of here myself for a bit. I'll go home and check on the dogs, get something to eat and catch a nap. I'll swing by and pick up Ronee on the way back."

"Thanks Dad," Niles said gently lifting his baby from my arms. God I could just burst at the seams right now. I have a new granddaughter, a wonderful daughter-in-law and a son that couldn't be happier. "And thanks for staying all night. You didn't have to."

"Oh yes I did," I said reaching over to hug Daphne, "I'm the grandpa."

"Well, we love you 'Grandpa," Daphne said, "thank you for…everything."

Smiling, I took one look at the tiny baby in my son's arms. I can't wait to watch her grow up and am so thankful I'll get to be a part of her life. "Bye Martin," Daphne said as I walked toward the door. "Bye guys! See you in a little while." I replied. "I love you too."

With my hand on the doorknob, I took one look back at my son and his new family. I watched him hand the baby back to his wife and join her on the bed. He kissed her and whispered something in her ear that brought a sparkle to her eye and then leaned down to kiss the baby on her head.

This moment, right now, is why I had to step in. I had to fix things for them. Yep, that was probably one of the best things I've ever done in my life. I just said to myself "I'm going to fix this." And I did.

**Author's Notes***

Thanks so much for those of you who have followed along. Not bad for the first time out of the gate 9 years. I certainly hope you'll keep reading and if you have any ideas or thoughts, don't hesitate to pass them along.


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